TH41881B - Thermo-pneumatic micro-valve devices for microfluidic chips with floating membrane heaters and their manufacturing processes. - Google Patents

Abstract

DC60 (10/01/57) Thermopneumatic type Microvalve In this invention there is a multi-layered structure which consists of microchamber, microheater, actuating membrane, microchannel. The microchamber for air is made of polymers such as polydimethysiloxane, for example. Inside the microchamber there is a fioating membrane heater microheater made by physical vapor deposition, which is evaporation or sputtering without relying on it. process electroplating And it is made of suitable heating metals such as NiChrom (Ni80%Cr20%) or Titanium Nitride (TiN). It looks like a thin film layer floating in the middle. with at least two anchor points by floating membrane heater The upper wall of the microchamber is an actuating membrane, a thin membrane of the same polymer that acts as a valve. The open air driven propellant expands the microchamber. This membrane sits beneath the microchannel structure, which is the same polymer. This is a microchannel through which the chemical flows. When the membrane is pushed up, the microchannel is closed. This multilayer polymer structure is created by means of piastic molding, hot embossing and plasma bonding onto the substrate. The important feature of the microvalve device is that it has a faster shut-off control speed. General thermopneumatic microvalve due to fast heating and temperature control and low power consumption By providing a microheater that is a floating membrane inside the microchamber to act to heat the air which in turn propels the polymer membrane. with energy lost to The least absorbent pads This makes heating possible quickly. and most importantly, the process The production will be cheaper than Microvalve devices that use an integrated circuit manufacturing process. Thermopneumatic microvalve devices. In this invention there multilayer structure which consists of microchamber, microheater, actuating membrane, microchannel. The microchamber for air is made of polymers such as polydimethysiloxane, etc. Inside the microchamber there is a microheater, a fioating membrane heater made of physical vapor deposition, which is evaporation or sputtering without live electroplating process They are made from suitable heating metals such as NiChrom (Ni80%:Cr20%) or Titanium Nitride (TiN). They feature a floating thin film layer at the center with at least two attachment points. hit by floating membrane heater The upper wall of the microchamber is the actuating membrane in which the floating membrane of the same polymer has It acts as a valve that drives hot air to expand the microchamber. This membrane is located beneath the microchannel structure, which is the same polymer. This is a small channel through which the chemical flows. When the membrane is pushed up, the microchannel is closed. It is formed by means of piastic molding, hot embossing and plasma bonding onto a glass substrate. open faster General thermopneumatic microvalve due to heating and temperature control Fast and low power consumption By placing a floating membrane microheater inside the microchamber to heat the air which in turn propels the polymer membrane with minimal energy loss to the substrate. This makes the heating possible quickly and most importantly, the production process is cheaper than the microvalve device that uses the production process. A very integrated circuit:

Claims (7)

1. Micro valve device Consisting of - base plate (3) consisting of one and two faces, the base plate (3) is made of insulating material; - floating membrane heater assembly consisting of film heaters. Thin (1) built on one surface of the base plate (3), with an air gap (9) separated between the thin film heater (1) and that base plate, and with at least a connecting arm. Two points - Thin film electrode (2) which serves as the electrode of the heater assembly. Hot, floating membranes are built on one surface of the aforementioned baseplate (3) and - a multi-layered polymer structure consisting of microchamber (4) - (5), microheater, actuating membrane (6) and microchamber. (7) - (8) fixed on the base plate (3) surrounding the entire floating membrane heater. The microvalve device is characterized by its base plate (3), which is insulating, at least 250 ° C heat-resistant, and a floating membrane heater assembly. It consists of a thin film heating element (1) and a thin film electrode (2), created from the physical vapor deposition process and is characterized The multilayer structure of such polymers, which is a silicone rubber sheet, is formed by plastic molding, hot embossing and plasma bonding methods on the glass substrate. Hold the 1st right where the base plate (3) is made of glass 3. The micro-valve device according to claim 1 where the base plate (3) is made of silica 4. The micro-valve device According to any of the 2-3 claims Where the base plate (3) is between 1-100 mm in width and length and 0.5-2 mm in thickness. According to claim 1, where the thin film heater (1) is on Thin film (5) floating membranes are made of alloys between nickel and chrome and have a thickness range of 0.2-3 μm. 6. Micro valve devices. According to claim 1, where the thin film heater (1) is on The thin film (5) floating membrane is made of metals of Titanium Nitride (Tin) compound and has a thickness in the range of 0.2-3 μm. According to claim 1, where the thin film layer (2) consists of chrome layer In the force range with thickness between 20-40 nm and gold layer between 100-300 nm thick in the next layer. 8. Micro valve device. According to claim 1, where the layer structure of the polymer It also consists of microchamber (4) - (5), actuating membrane (6) and microchannel (7) - (8) surrounding the floating membrane heaters. 9. Micro valve device. According to the claim 1 - 8, any one Where the multi-layered structure of The polymers are made from silicone rubber sheet materials or in a group containing poldimethysiloxane (PDMS) 1 0. According to any of the 1st claim Where such microchamber (4) structure, its thickness should not be less than 100 μm 1. 1.Micro valve device According to the claim 1 - 8, any one Where the air chamber structure (5) within the microchamber layer (4) is circular with The diameter is between 50-1000 μm. 2.Micro valve device According to the claim 1 - 8, any one Where the actuating membrane (6) is between 10 and 100 μm thick. 3.Micro valve device According to the claim 1-8, any one Where the microchannel layer (7) is between 500 -3000 μm thick. 4. Micro valve device According to the claim 1 - 8, any one Where the microchannel layer (8) of the microfluidic system within the microchannel structure layer (7) is wide. And depth is between 50-200 micrometers 1 5.Micro valve device According to the claim 1 - 8, any one Where the microchannel layer (8) within the microchannel layer (7) above the air chamber (5) is wider than the microchannel of the normal microfluidic system, between 100-500 μm. 6.Production process Microvalve device consisting of a procedure of - baseplate arrangement (3) consisting of one and two functional surfaces - a floating membrane heater structure (1) being constructed. From the thin film layer (1) and there is a part floating above the base plate (3) with a gap (9) in between and at least two bonding arms - thin film arrangement (2) which acts as a stage of a floating membrane heater That is built on one surface of the baseplate (3) - a multi-layered structure of polymers consisting of microchamber (4) - (5), microheater, actuating membrane (6) and microchannel (7). - (8) encloses the aforementioned floating membrane heater structure. The process of manufacturing such microvalve sensors is characterized by In the process of providing such floating membrane heaters, the It consists of the process of - the formation of layers of photoresist (10) by the photoresist process. (photolithography) A rectangular bar or other similar shape for the secondary. Such floating membrane heaters - thin film heating (1) on such photoresist layer (10) provides The thickness required by evaporation or sputtering processes and - limiting the said photoresist layer (10). To make such a gap (8) between the aforementioned floating membrane heaters on the base plate (3) 1 7.Production process Microvalve device (Microvalve) according to claim 16, where the procedure Creating a multilayered polymer structure consisting of microchamber (4) - (5), microheater, actuating membrane (6) and microchannel (7) - (8), made of rubber sheet. The silicon types by spin casting, plastic molding and plastic bonding on the substrate also consist of the process of - creating a microchamber structure (4) from a flat sheet of PDMS rubber sheet of the required thickness. Spin casting, which begins by pouring the PDMS's liquid rubber onto a temporary base plate (11), which can be a flat sheet of glass, metal or silicon, is then rotated with a tool called a spin coater. catch Hold the base temporarily (11) with a vacuum and turn the base containing the liquid as well. The speed is maintained by PID controlled motor with the optimum speed in the range of 300-2000 rpm for 30-60 min to obtain the PDMS sheet thickness in the range of 1000-100 μm. Bake at approximately 80 ํ C for 2 hours to completely dry the PDMS, then the PDMS is removed from the temporary base plate (11) and drill a small hole for the air chamber (5) by a drill or drilling tool of a suitable size - Forming the actuating membrane 6 layer by spin casting method is the same as in the case above, but in this case temporarily rotates the baseboard (11) at the For thinner sheets, the optimum speed is 2000-5000 rpm for 30-60 seconds to achieve the PDMS thickness of 100-10 μm. Membrane layer obtained from the plate Periodic foundation - Making microchannel structure by creating a simple mold, starting with the temporary base plate (11), then a microchannel layer (12) with a patterned thickness is created. The microchannel layer (12) may be made from a very thick and suitable photoresist such as a SUB, followed by casting of PDMS liquid rubber onto a mold or making. Hot embossing of PDMS solid rubber onto mold and extracting PDMS structure (7) from the mold layer - plastic bonding process to hold the three PDMS structures: microchamber 4-5 actuating membrane 6 and microchannel 7-8 in. Together by It needs to be heated to an optimum temperature in the 80-90 ° C range for all PDMS structures to soften and bond strongly after removal from oxygen plasma and - the plasma bonding process to adhere all PDMS structures to. The base plate (3) surrounds the entire floating membrane heater structure without heating.