A microfluidic pump is presented that generates its pumping action via the EWOD (electrowetting-on-dielectric) effect. The flow is generated by the periodic movement of liquid–vapor interfaces in a large number (≈10⁶) of microcavities resulting in a volume change of approx. 0.5 pl per cavity per pump stroke. The total flow resulting from all microcavities adds up to a few hundred nanolitres per cycle. Passive, topologically optimized, non-mechanical Tesla valves are used to rectify the flow. As a result, the micropump operates without any moving components. The dimensioning, fabrication, and characterization process of the micropump are described. Device fabrication is done using conventional manufacturing processes from microsystems technology, enabling cost-effective mass production on wafer-level without additional assembly steps like piezo chip-level bonding, etc. This allows for direct integration into wafer-based microfluidic or lab-on-a-chip applications. Furthermore, first measurement results obtained with prototypes of the micropump are presented. The voltage- and frequency-dependent pump performance is determined. The measurements show that a continuous flow rate larger than 0.2 ml min⁻¹ can be achieved at a maximum pump pressure larger than 12 mbar.

中文翻译：

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由电介质电润湿驱动的芯片集成非机械微流体泵

提出了一种微流体泵，它通过EWOD（电介质电润湿）效应产生泵送作用。流动是由大量（约 10 ⁶）微腔中液-汽界面的周期性运动产生的，导致约 10 的体积变化。每个泵冲程每个腔 0.5 pl。每个周期所有微腔产生的总流量总计为几百纳升。采用拓扑优化的无源非机械特斯拉阀来调整流量。因此，微型泵无需任何移动部件即可运行。描述了微型泵的尺寸、制造和表征过程。器件制造是使用微系统技术的传统制造工艺完成的，可以在晶圆级进行经济有效的大规模生产，而无需额外的组装步骤（例如压电芯片级键合等）。这允许直接集成到基于晶圆的微流体或实验室中。 a芯片应用。此外，还介绍了通过微型泵原型获得的首次测量结果。确定与电压和频率相关的泵性能。测量结果表明，在大于12毫巴的最大泵压下可以实现大于0.2ml min ^-1的连续流速。