A New Two-Dimensional Actuator for Air Flow Micro-manipulation

A two dimensional pneumatic actuator based on silicon MEMS technology for objects micro-manipulation is presented. The device uses inclined air jets to levitate and convey micro-objects to the desired position. The structure consists of a sandwich of silicon-silicon-Pyrex layers fabricated using MEMS technologies such as deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and ultrasonic micro-machining techniques. A two dimensional system composed of 64 micro-conveyors in about 9 mm × 9 mm area was realized. Each micro-conveyor has four nozzles and can generate inclined air-jets which allow four conveyance directions. Two-dimensional conveyance of a silicon chip of 3 mm diameter and weighing approximately 2 mg was performed with pulsed air flow of 20 kPa.