AMANDA - LOW-COST PRODUCTION OF MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES

AMANDA is a process that allows the production of microfluidic devices by molding of the device housings, surface micromachining of a diaphr agm, and transferring it to the molded parts. Various devices have bee n produced with AMANDA, and the reliability of the process was proven in a small-scale production line for the manufacture of micropumps sho wing a yield of 70%. Low-cost production is achieved by batch fabricat ion of polymer devices. A further reduction of expenditure appears to be feasible by miniaturizing the devices and enlarging the batches. Lo ng-term investigations show that the diaphragms of pumps and valves ma y stand more than 300 million deflections. For example, one micropump pumped unfiltered room air for nearly half a year at 20 Hz. During all tests, no defect of a valve and no clogging of a pump occurred. In an y case of failure, the pumps were damaged by a crack in the heater of the thermo-pneumatic actuator. Folds in the diaphragm appear to be res ponsible for these cracks. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights r eserved.