BISTABLE FLUIDIC ELEMENTS IN LIGA TECHNIQUE FOR FLOW-CONTROL IN FLUIDIC MICROACTUATORS

A new micromechanical device for controlling fluid flow in fluidic microactuators is presented. By means of the LIGA technique, a bistable wall attachment amplifier (a fluidic flip-flop), with a nozzle width of 30 mum and a structural height of 500 mum, is manufactured. The operation of the bistable wall attachment amplifier with different kinds of gas is described. With the fabricated elements a pressure of more than 40 hPa can be switched from one output port to the other. A pressure of typically 12 hPa is needed for less than 1 ms to switch the device. The pressure at the output ports can be converted into a force or torque to drive an actuator or tools within a microsystem, such as a microendoscope for medical applications. It is intended to build a switch for fluidic power, which will be activated by an electric or an optical signal.