A bistable pneumatic microswitch for driving fluidic components 2

This paper presents the fabrication and performance of a pneumatic switch for the actuation of passive fluidic components. The switch has two stable states which can be held without additional power consumption. Two silicon microvalves, driven by thermally induced buckling of silicon microbridges, act as the inlet and outlet of the operation volume. Powered by short electrical pulses, the switch can be toggeled between the two stable states. With pulses of 10-120 ms duration at 4-4.5 W input power, pressures of up to 4 bar can be controlled. Large deflections (e.g., 1 cm piston movement) as well as high forces can be achieved.