MICROFLUIDIC SYSTEM MODELING USING VHDL-AMS AND CIRCUIT SIMULATION

It is demonstrated that the operation of electrofluidic microsystems s uch as micropumps can be efficiently modeled by standard electrical ci rcuit simulators, using the analog hardware description language (VHDL -AMS) to describe the models. As a representative example, compact mod els were developed for all constituent parts of an electromechanical m icropump fabricated by silicon-based microstructure technology, includ ing electrostatically actuated membrane drives, membrane valves and tu bes together with the power supply and control circuitry. With the res ulting macromodel of the micropump, the static characteristics as well as the dynamic behavior is correctly reproduced. Thus, with this appr oach it is possible to include fluidmechanical system components strai ghtforwardly in conventional microelectronic design environments, allo wing for easy full system analysis and optimization of even complex mi crosystems. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.