Understanding faulty behavior of a peristaltic micropump

The effects of process parameters, specifically those related to silicon wet etch and metal deposition, on the performance of the microheaters in a peristaltic microfluidic pump are presented. The thermal resistance of the microheaters is strongly dependent upon the relative thermal isolation, which impacts maximum pumping speed (from a few Hertz to kilo-Hertz). Thermal isolation is shown to not be an issue in the pump design given the spacing of the neighboring microheaters.