Glass valveless micropump using electromagnetic actuation

We present a valveless micropump in glass, which is magnetically actuated using the sinusoidal current of an external electromagnet. We employ a powder blasting microerosion process for microstructuring the glass substrates and fusion bonding for assembly of the multi-layered microfluidic chip. The reciprocating type micropump contains two nozzle/diffuser elements and a poly(dimethylsiloxane) membrane with embedded permanent magnet. The micropump is self-priming and exhibits a backpressure of 50 mbar and water flow rates up to 1 mL/min. The flow resonance frequency is in excellent agreement with the model of Olsson et al. [Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering 9 (1999) 34].