Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A micro vertically-allocated SU-8 check valve and its characteristics

  • Technical Paper
  • Published:
Microsystem Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper proposes and develops a novel fabrication method to realize a micro vertically-allocated SU-8 check valve. The ordinary vertically-allocated SU-8 check valve formed by the photolithography has a limited overlap between an SU-8 cantilever and its valve seat, resulting in the low diodicity (i.e. the ratio of the forward flow to reverse flow rates). This overlap prevents the leakage through a bottom gap (a gap between a substrate and the SU-8 cantilever) and a top gap (a gap between a cover plate and the SU-8 cantilever) in the backward flow. These gaps, which are necessary for the movement of the SU-8 cantilever in the forward flow, must cause the leakage of check valves in the backward flow. To reduce the leakage and improve the diodicity, we propose to fabricate a novel fully-overlapped valve seat composed of channel walls, a bottom block, and a top block. To keep the advantages on the batch process of vertically-allocated SU-8 check valves, these blocks are desirable to be fabricated by the multi-layer process. We propose a multi-layer process for the bottom block and a novel beam forming process (a dose-controlled UV exposure) for the top block. In this paper, we design two types of check valves: (a) the ordinary partially-overlapped check valve; and (b) the proposed fully-overlapped check valve, to compare their diodicity. By investigating their flow rate characteristics experimentally, we conclude that the fully-overlapped check valve can reduce the leakage of 53.6% compared with the partially-overlapped check valve and increase the diodicity from 1.7 to 3.5 (about 2 times) at the supplied pressure of 18 kPa. We also demonstrate that the novel check valve exhibits higher performance and also show that our fully-overlapped check valve can be potentially applied to various microfluidics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agirregabiria M, Blanco F, Berganzo J, Arroyo M, Fullaondo A, Mayora K, Ruano-Lopez J (2005) Fabrication of SU-8 multilayer microstructures based on successive CMOS compatible adhesive bonding and releasing steps. Lab Chip 5:545–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Faqheri W, Ibrahim F, Thio THG, Aeinehvand MM, Arof H, Madou M (2015) Development of novel passive check valves for the microfluidic CD platform. Sens Actuators A 222:245–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auroux P-A, Iossifidis D, Reyes DR, Manz A (2002) Micro total analysis systems. 2. Analytical standard operations and applications. Anal Chem 74:2637–2652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball C, Renzi R, Priye A, Meagher R (2016) A simple check valve for microfluidic point of care diagnostics. Lab Chip 16:4436–4444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanco F et al (2004) Novel three-dimensional embedded SU-8 microchannels fabricated using a low temperature full wafer adhesive bonding. J Micromech Microeng 14:1047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng C-H, Tseng Y-P (2013) Characteristic studies of the piezoelectrically actuated micropump with check valve. Microsyst Technol 19:1707–1715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chuang Y-J, Tseng F-G, Cheng J-H, Lin W-K (2003) A novel fabrication method of embedded micro-channels by using SU-8 thick-film photoresists. Sens Actuators A 103:64–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung C, Allen M (2004) Uncrosslinked SU-8 as a sacrificial material. J Micromech Microeng 15:N1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ezkerra A, Fernandez L, Mayora K, Ruano-Lopez J (2007) Fabrication of SU-8 free-standing structures embedded in microchannels for microfluidic control. J Micromech Microeng 17:2264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ezkerra A, Fernández LJ, Mayora K, Ruano-López JM (2011) SU8 diaphragm micropump with monolithically integrated cantilever check valves. Lab Chip 11:3320–3325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang Y, Tan X (2010) A novel diaphragm micropump actuated by conjugated polymer petals: fabrication, modeling, and experimental results. Sens Actuators A 158:121–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fu C, Rummler Z, Schomburg W (2003) Magnetically driven micro ball valves fabricated by multilayer adhesive film bonding. J Micromech Microeng 13:S96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gracias A, Feng X, Xu B, Castracane J (2006) Novel microfabrication approach of embedded SU8™ fluidic networks for cell transport on chips. J Micro Nanolithogr MEMS MOEMS 5:021102–021107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerin L, Bossel M, Demierre M, Calmes S, Renaud P (1997) Simple and low cost fabrication of embedded micro-channels by using a new thick-film photoplastic. In: International conference on solid state sensors and actuators, 1997. TRANSDUCERS '97 Chicago. pp 1419–1422

  • Hasselbrink EF, Shepodd TJ, Rehm JE (2002) High-pressure microfluidic control in lab-on-a-chip devices using mobile polymer monoliths. Anal Chem 74:4913–4918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izzo I, Accoto D, Menciassi A, Schmitt L, Dario P (2007) Modeling and experimental validation of a piezoelectric micropump with novel no-moving-part valves. Sens Actuators A 133:128–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kajiwara S (2014) Effect of the check ball and inlet position on hydraulic L-shaped check ball behavior. J Fluids Struct 48:497–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim D, Beebe DJ (2007) A bi-polymer micro one-way valve. Sens Actuators A 136:426–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim J, Baek J, Lee K, Park Y, Sun K, Lee T, Lee S (2006) Photopolymerized check valve and its integration into a pneumatic pumping system for biocompatible sample delivery. Lab Chip 6:1091–1094

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laser DJ, Santiago JG (2004) A review of micropumps. J Micromech Microeng 14:R35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ling Z, Liu C, Lian K (2009) Design and fabrication of SU-8 micro optic fiber holder with cantilever-type elastic microclips. Microsyst Technol 15:429–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz H, Despont M, Fahrni N, LaBianca N, Renaud P, Vettiger P (1997) SU-8: a low-cost negative resist for MEMS. J Micromech Microeng 7:121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Low L-M, Seetharaman S, He K-Q, Madou MJ (2000) Microactuators toward microvalves for responsive controlled drug delivery. Sens Actuators B Chem 67:149–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manz A, Graber N, Widmer H (1990) Miniaturized total chemical analysis systems: a novel concept for chemical sensing. Sens Actuators B Chem 1:244–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mao Z, Yoshida K, Kim J-W (2018) Study on the fabrication of a SU-8 cantilever vertically-allocated in a closed fluidic microchannel. Microsyst Technol 24(5):2473–2483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ni J, Huang F, Wang B, Li B, Lin Q (2010) A planar PDMS micropump using in-contact minimized-leakage check valves. J Micromech Microeng 20:095033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ni J, Wang B, Chang S, Lin Q (2014) An integrated planar magnetic micropump. Microelectron Eng 117:35–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oh KW, Ahn CH (2006) A review of microvalves. J Micromech Microeng 16:R13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paudel BJ, Jamal T, Thompson SM, Walters DK (2014) Thermal effects on micro-sized tesla valves. ASME 2014 4th Joint US-European fluids engineering division summer meeting collocated with the ASME 2014 12th International Conference on nanochannels, microchannels, and minichannels. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, pp V002T019A006–V002T019A006

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahbar M, Shannon L, Gray BL (2016) Design, fabrication and characterization of an arrayable all-polymer microfluidic valve employing highly magnetic rare-earth composite polymer. J Micromech Microeng 26:055012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes DR, Iossifidis D, Auroux P-A, Manz A (2002) Micro total analysis systems. 1. Introduction, theory, and technology. Anal Chem 74:2623–2636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schluter M, Kampmeyer U, Tahhan I, Lilienhof H-J (2002) A modular structured, planar micro pump with no moving part (NMP) valve for fluid handling in microanalysis systems. In: 2nd annual international IEEE-EMBS special topic conference on microtechnologies in medicine and biology. Proceedings (Cat. No.02EX578), pp 500–503

  • Seidemann V, Bütefisch S, Büttgenbach S (2002) Fabrication and investigation of in-plane compliant SU8 structures for MEMS and their application to micro valves and micro grippers. Sens Actuators A 97:457–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shih T-K, Chen C-F, Ho J-R, Chuang F-T (2006) Fabrication of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) microlens and diffuser using replica molding. Microelectron Eng 83:2499–2503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terry SC, Jerman JH, Angell JB (1979) A gas chromatographic air analyzer fabricated on a silicon wafer. IEEE Trans Electron Devices 26:1880–1886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Ni J, Litvin Y, Pfaff DW, Lin Q (2012) A microfluidic approach to pulsatile delivery of drugs for neurobiological studies. J Microelectromech Syst 21:53–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang B, Lin Q (2007) A planar compliance-based self-adaptive microfluidvariable resistor. J Microelectromech Syst 16:411–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang E-H, Lee C, Mueller J, George T (2004) Leak-tight piezoelectric microvalve for high-pressure gas micropropulsion. J Microelectromech Syst 13:799–807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshida K, Tanaka S, Hagihara Y, Tomonari S, Esashi M (2010) Normally closed electrostatic microvalve with pressure balance mechanism for portable fuel cell application. Sens Actuators A 157:290–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, J3-12, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan

    Zebing Mao

  2. Laboratory for Future Interdisciplinary Research of Science and Technology (FIRST), Tokyo Institute of Technology, J3-12, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan

    Kazuhiro Yoshida & Joon-wan Kim

Authors
  1. Zebing Mao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kazuhiro Yoshida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joon-wan Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joon-wan Kim.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mao, Z., Yoshida, K. & Kim, Jw. A micro vertically-allocated SU-8 check valve and its characteristics. Microsyst Technol 25, 245–255 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-3958-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-3958-3

Search

Navigation