Microvalve with ultra-low leakage

Author

Hirano, Motohisa ; Yanagisawa, Keiichi ; Kuwano, Hiroki ; Nakano, Satoko

Author_Institution

NTT Integrated Inf. & Energy Syst. Labs., Tokyo, Japan

fYear

1997

fDate

26-30 Jan 1997

Firstpage

323

Lastpage

326

Abstract

This paper reports a reduction of microvalve leakage based on precise measurements of leak and flow rates. The tight contact between a valve cap and seat, which is obtained by nanometer-scale flat surfaces and by self-alignment of the cap and seat-bore, makes the leakage from a microvalve ultra-low. The leak and flow rates are determined by precisely measuring pressure changes when introducing helium gas into a flow line. We have, consequently, attained a leak rate as low as 5.8×10^-10 Pa.m³/s and a flow rate ranging from 4.0×10^-6 to 3.2×10^-4 Pa.m³/s

Keywords

flow control; flow measurement; leak detection; microactuators; surface topography; valves; He gas introduction; Si; SiN seat; SiN-Si-SiO₂; flow rate measurement; fluid flow control; leak rate measurement; microvalve leakage reduction; nanometer-scale flat surfaces; precise measurements; pressure changes; surface topography; valve cap seat contact; valve conductance; Argon; Etching; Fabrication; Fluid flow; Magnetic levitation; Microvalves; Silicon; Springs; Substrates; Valves;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1997. MEMS '97, Proceedings, IEEE., Tenth Annual International Workshop on

Conference_Location

Nagoya

ISSN

1084-6999

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3744-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.1997.581844

Filename

581844