An electrostatic parylene microvalve for lab-on-a-chip applications

This paper presents a novel electrostatically actuated microvalve for lab-on-a-chip applications, fabricated using surface micromachining techniques. Lab-on-a-chip applications generally involve in-plane microflows. Microvalve mentioned here operates by moving a diaphragm, which is in-plane with the flow, perpendicular to the stream with the help of electrostatic forces. Operating principles and the operation of the valve are presented in the paper.