Microfluidic Microchemomechanical Systems

Abstract

The lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology was expected to influence our every day live in a similarly fundamental way as integrated circuits have. Unfortunately, this demand has not been met yet. The cause therefore lies in the complexity of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), which form the base of the current LOC technology. We present a new concept of LOC which are based on fluidic microchemomechanical systems (μCMS). During the fabrication process, these μCMS are preprogrammed by monolithic integration of special active components. These active components are holding chemical energy that can be transformed at least once into mechanical energy and thus provide a timed and quantitative exactly defined fluidic function. With our simple and inexpensive fabrication method combined with the above mentioned advantages of the invented μCMS, new and better LOC technology can be developed.