Single-chip fabrication of integrated fluid systems (IFS)

A novel single-chip fabrication technique, i.e., cover on meshes technique for single-chip fabrication of three-dimensional structures (CoMSaT), has been applied to the 3D integrated fluid system (IFS). The fabrication involves a 2-stage etching through opening meshes and cover the meshes by deposition. 3D structures with membranes suspended on deep cavities have been obtained without wafer/chip bonding or alignment, and on-chip circuits have been integrated within single-chip by further IC-compatible processes. Several miniaturized integrated micropumps, valves and measurement-units are designed and fabricated in the chip area of 5.9/spl times/6.4 mm/sup 2/. Theories and primary experiments show that this fabrication technique is promising in the batch production of miniaturized integrated fluid systems.