Electrostatic driven 3-way silicon microvalve for pneumatic applications

For the first time we present a normally-closed electrostatic driven 3-way microvalve which is able to meet requirements of industrial applications like small form factor, high flow rate, low weight, low power consumption and a short response time. The microvalve consists of a 3 layer silicon chip stack mounted on a ceramics substrate, covered by a plastic cap. A driver electronics which converts TTL level to the actuation voltage of 200 V is put on top of the valve. The valve operates in a pressure range of up to 10 bar and has a flow rate of approx. 500 ml/min. Due to the electrostatic actuation principle the power consumption is below 5 mW and the response time is below 1 ms.