A Bistable Pneumatic Microswitch For Driving Fluidic Components

This paper presents fabrication and performance of a pneumatic 3/2-way switch for the actuation of passive fluidic components. The switch has two stable states which can be hold without additional power consump- tion. Two silicon microvalves, driven by thermally induced buckling of silicon microbridges, are acting as inlet and outlet of'the operation volume. Powered with short electrical pulses the switch can be toggeled bet- ween the two stable states. With pulses of 10-12( ms duration at 4-4.5 W input power pressures of up to z bar can be controlled. Both large deflections (e.g. I cm piston movement) as well as high forces can be achieved.