Title :
Micromachined membrane particle filters
Author :
Yang, X. ; Yang, J.M. ; Wang, X.Q. ; Meng, E. ; Tai, Y.C. ; Ho, C.M.
Author_Institution :
Caltech Micromachining Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
Several particle membrane filters (8×8 mm2) with circular, hexagonal and rectangular through holes are reported. By varying hole dimensions from 6 to 12 μm, opening factors from 4 to 45% are achieved. In order to improve the filter robustness, a composite silicon nitride/Parylene membrane technology is developed. More importantly, fluid dynamic performance of the filters is also studied by both experiments and numerical simulations. It is found that the gaseous flow through the filters depends strongly on opening factors, and the measured pressure drops are much lower than that from numerical simulation using the Navier-Stokes equation. Interestingly, surface velocity slip can only account for a minor part of the discrepancy. This suggests that a very interesting topic for micro fluid mechanics research is identified
Keywords :
Navier-Stokes equations; elemental semiconductors; flow separation; fluid dynamics; membranes; micromechanical devices; numerical analysis; silicon; silicon compounds; 6 to 12 mum; Navier-Stokes equation; Si; filter robustness; fluid dynamic performance; gaseous flow; hole dimensions; micro fluid mechanics; micromachined membrane particle filters; numerical simulation; opening factors; pressure drops; silicon nitride/Parylene membrane; surface velocity slip; Biomembranes; Etching; Fabrication; Fluid dynamics; Micromechanical devices; Numerical simulation; Particle filters; Robustness; Shape; Silicon compounds;
Conference_Titel :
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1998. MEMS 98. Proceedings., The Eleventh Annual International Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Heidelberg
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4412-X
DOI :
10.1109/MEMSYS.1998.659743
