The project
will design and fabricate a single micropump and an array of microactuators.
The basic strategy in these devices is to deposit a film as described
earlier on a silicon substrate and back-etch carefully selected regions.
The devices will be designed carefully using the models that were described
in the previous sections. The models will be used to develop specific
designs that optimize performance and minimize failure. The models will
also be used to select material compositions, synthesis process and
processing parameters for the films that will be used for fabrication.
The research will be carried out in a collaborative manner by a multidisciplicary
team from Applied Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Mechanical
Engineering and Mechanics at the California Institute of Technology.
