MEMS micropump for a Micro Gas Analyzer

This thesis presents a MEMS micro-vacuum pump designed for use in a portable gas analysis system. It is designed to be pneumatically-driven and as such does not have self-contained actuation (the focus of future work). This research was carried out through a series of modeling, design, fabrication, and experimental testing tasks. Non-linear stress modeling tools characterizing the structural deformations of the micropump pistons and tethers, and fluid-flow modeling tools characterizing the vacuum generation and pumping rates were developed. A systematic design procedure based on these tools enabled the design and prediction of different valve and pump layouts to satisfy the stress limitations, and flow and power consumption requirements set forth by the MIT Micro Gas Analyzer project. The micropumps were fabricated using MEMS fabrication techniques, comprised of silicon and pyrex micromachining and bonding. Fabrication challenges, in particular the deep-reactive ion etching (DRIE) of the drive pistons and membrane structures, were overcome, and a completely computer controlled pneumatic testing platform for the rapid characterization of valve and micropump performance at different actuation pressures and frequencies was developed. Valve leakage data for various valve designs was collected and compared with models, and a micropump capable of generating 258Torr of vacuum below atmosphere was demonstrated at 0.75Hz operation. The maximum frequency of operation for these devices was experimentally measured to be just above 2Hz, which was consistent with fluid flow models.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Sharma, Vikas, 1979-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Martin A. Schmidt.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54643

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54643