• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2008

This paper presents design and fabrication of optimized geometry structure of electrostatic inkjet head. In order to verify effect of geometry shape, we simulate electric field intensity according to the head structure. The electric field strength increases linearly with increasing height of the micro nozzle. As the nozzle diameter decreases, the electric field along the periphery of the meniscus can be more concentrated. We design and fabricate the electrostatic inkjet heads, hole type and pole type, with optimized structure. It was fabricated using thick-thermal oxidation and silicon micromachining technique such as the deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and chemical wet etching process. It is verified experimentally that the use of the MEMS inkjet head allows a stable and sustainable micro-dripping mode of droplet ejection. A stable micro dripping mode of ejection is observed under the voltages 2.5 kV and droplet diameter is $10\;{\mu}m$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.932-937
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• 2002

The polyimide nozzle and silicon restrictor inside a thermal micro actuator have been fabricated using state of the art laser micromachining methods. Numerical models of fluid dynamics inside the actuator chamber and nozzle are presented. The models include fluid flow from reservoir, bubble formation and growth, ejection through the nozzle, and dynamics of refill through restrictor. Since high tapered nozzle and restrictor are very important parameters for overall actuator performance design, a special setup for the beam delivery system has been developed. The effects of variations of nozzle thickness, diameter, taper angles, and restrictor shapes are simulated and some results are compared with the experimental results. It is fecund that the fluid ejection through the thinner and high tapered nozzle is more steady, fast, and robust and the tapered restrictor shows more satisfying refill than the zero taper one.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.1280-1287
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• 2002

The old technique of sandblasting which has been used for decoration of glass surface has recently been developed into a powder blasting technique for brittle materials such as glass, silicon and ceramics, capable of producing micro structures larger than $100{\mu}$ m. This paper describes the performance of powder blasting technique in micro-line grooving of glass and the effect of the number of nozzle scanning on the depth and width of line groove. Experimental results showed that increasing the no. of nozzle scanning resulted in the increase of depth and width in grooves. Increase of width which may cause several problems in the precision machining results from wear of mask film. Therefore, well-controlled masking process is the most important factor for micro machining of glass with accuracy.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1196-1200
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• 2004

Micropump is very useful component in micro/nano fluidics and bioMEMS applications. In this study, a bubble-powered micropump was fabricated and tested. The micropump consists of two-parallel micro line heaters, a pair of nozzle-diffuser flow controller and a 1 mm in diameter, 400 ${\mu}m$ in depth pumping chamber. The two-parallel micro line heaters with 20 ${\mu}m-width$ and 200 ${\mu}m-length$ were fabricated to be embedded in the silicon dioxide layer of a wafer which serves as a base plate for the micropump. The pumping chamber, the pair of nozzle-diffuser unit and microchannels including the liquid inlet and outlet port were fabricated by etching through another silicon wafer. A glass wafer (thickness of $525{\pm}15$ ${\mu}m$) having two holes of inlet and outlet ports of liquid serve as upper plate of the pump. Finally the silicon wafer of the base plate, the silicon wafer of pumping chamber and the glass wafer were aligned and bonded (Si-Si bonding and anodic bonding). A sequential photograph of bubble nucleation, growth and collapse was visualized by CCD camera. Clearly liquid flow through the nozzle during the period of bubble growth and slight back flow of liquid at the end of collapsing period can be seen. The mass flow rate was found to be dependent on the duty ratio and the operation frequency. As duty ratio increases, flow rate decreases gradually when the duty ratio exceeds 60%. Also as the operation frequency increases, the flow rate of the micropump decreases slightly.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.1051-1054
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• 2000

We developed the micro CSF (celebrospinal fluid) shunt valve with surface and bulk micromachining technology in polymer MEMS. This micro CSF shunt valve was formed with four micro check valves to have a membrane connected to the anchor with the four bridges. The up-down movement of the membrane made the CSF on & off and the valve characteristic such as open pressure was controlled by the thickness and shape of the bridge and the membrane. The membrane, anchor and bridge layer were made of the $O_2$ RIE (reactive ion etching) patterned Parylene thin film to be about 5~10 microns in thickness on the silicon wafer. The dimension of the rectangular nozzle is 0.2＊0.2 $\textrm{mm}^2$ and the membrane 0.45 mm in diameter. The bridge width is designed variously from 0.04 mm to 0.12 mm to control the valve characteristics. To protect the membrane and bridge in the CSF flow, we developed the packaging system for the CSF micro shunt valve with the deep RIE of the silicon wafer. Using this package, we can control the gap size between the membrane and the nozzle, and protect the bridge not to be broken in the flow. The total dimension of the assembled system is 2.5＊2.5 $\textrm{mm}^2$ in square, 0.8 mm in height. We could precisely control the burst pressure and low rate of the valve varing the design parameters, and develop the whole CSF shunt system using this polymer MEMS fabricated CSF shunt valve.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.1186-1190
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• 2003

In this paper, a valveless bubble-actuated fluid micropump was has been developed and its performance was tested. The valveless micropump consists of the lower plate, the middle plate, the upper plate and a resistive heater. The lower plate includes the nozzle-diffuser elements and the double-chamber. Nozzle-diffuser elements and a double-chamber are fabricated on the silicon wafer by the DRIE(Deep Reactive Ion Etching) process. The lower plate also has inlet/outlet channels for fluid flow. The middle plate is made of glass and plays the role of the diaphragm. The chamber in the upper plate is filled with deionized water, and which contacts with the resistive heater. The resistive heater is patterned on a silicon substrate by Ti/Pt sputtering. Three plates and the resister heater are laminated by the aligner and bonded in the anodic bonder. Since the bubble is evaporated and condensed periodically in the chamber, the fluid flows from inlet to outlet with respect to the diffusion effect. In order to avoid backflow, the double chamber system is introduced. Analytical and experimental results show the validity of the developed double-chamber micropump.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.463-467
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• 2004

This paper presents the fabrication possibility of the micro actuator which uses a micro-thermal bubble, generated b micro-heater under pulse heating. The valve-less micropump using the diffuser/nozzle is consists of the lower plate, he middle plate, the upper plate. The lower plate includes the channel and chamber are fabricated on high processability silicon wafer by the DRIE(Deep Reactive Ion Etching) process. The middle plate includes the chamber and diaphragm d the upper plate is the micro-heater. The Micropump is fabricated by bonding process of the three layer. This paper resented the possibility of the PCR chip operation by the fabricated micropump.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1175-1178
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• 2005

Brittle materials, especially single-crystal silicon wafer, are widely used for sensors, IC industry, and MEMS applications. e general machining process of crack easy materials is by chemical agents, but it is hazardous and time consuming. Also, it is difficult to get high aspect ratio micro structure. As an alternative tool, an AJM(Abrasive jet machining) is promising method in terms of high aspect ratio and production cost. In this study, to get more precise detail compared to general AJM, photo polymer mask, SU-8, used in photolithography was applied in AJM. Process parameters such as abrasive diameter, air pressure, nozzle diameter, flow rate of abrasive in AJM and a variety of conditions in spin coating were decided. Finally, micro channel and mixer was fabricated to see the efficiency of the AJM with photo polymer mask.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1998.11c
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• pp.1017-1019
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• 1998

In this paper, the fabrication of a micropump with two giant magnetostrictive films of Sm-Fe and Tb-Fe is presented. The pump consist of one silicon wafer and one cover glass. The micropump consists of an actuator diaphragm, a paired nozzle and diffuser, and two through holes. The Structure of the micropump is fabricated by the chemical vapor deposition, the etching and the sputtering of the magnetostrictive films. The deflection of the actuator measured diaphragm is measured by using the laser vibrometer and the flow rate of the micro pump is observed by using a video microscope.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.72-80
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• 1997

One of the concerns in micro fluidic valve designs is that of reverse direction leakage. This paper designs and fabricates a new fluidic valve to achieve zero leakage. The design uses flapper and nozzle elements. In the forward direction the working fluid pushes the flapper upward to allow flow. In the reverse direction, the flapper pushes against the orifice seat, and thus, no flow can be generated, unless the flapper or nozzle element breaks. The nozzle element fabrication involves fabricating an orifice by wet etching of (100) wafer, The flapper element fabrication involves $20{\mu}m$ deep patterning of the negative image of the flapper, followed by wet etching from backside. Flow experiments were conducted with DI water as the working fluid, and the results are compared to analytical predictions. The results show that the developed flapper-nozzle valve achieves a true diodic flow characteristic.