The design and fabrication of hydraulic microcomponents obtained by stereolithography are proposed in this paper. A piezoelectric micropump and microchannels have been fabricated and tested extensively. The pump body and the microchannels are made out of ultraviolet-photocurable polymer material and manufactured by a single stereolithographic prccess. Stereolithography has been selected since it allows the microfabrication of three-dimensional structures of any complex shape, even incorporating 'integral' movable parts that may require no assembly. The design of the pump body and the flow channels has been based on optimum hydraulic criteria. and aimed to obtain long life and quick, cheap and easy manufacturing. Design Nles have been studied in order to obtain hydraulic components with specific behaviours (flow rate, head, loss and charge). The paper describes the finite-element analysis of the thin plate pumping element and of the actuator, a s well as the fabrication and experimental performance of the pump. Experimental results show good agreement with theoretical prediction obtained by simulation, and values of flow rate and discharge head that are among the highest reported in the literature for pumps for similar size and working principles.

Although silicon planar technology has generated the field of micromechanics, it has been realized that this technology has intrinsic limitations for the fabrication of truly so micromechanisms. A number of alternative technologies based either on silicon or on different materials are presently investigated in order to overcome the limitations of planar silicon technology. This paper outlines the motivations for developing new microfabrication technologies, especially those that are considered as 'non-traditional' in the microelectronics domain, and the perspectives offered by this approach for fabricating miniature, micro and nanodevices. Four representative 'non-traditional' technologies are considered. LIGA process, micro electro-discharge machining (EDM), micro stereo lithography, and the combination of biological and artificial microfabricated structures ('hybrid' technologies).

In this paper we present the design and fabrication of the two fundamental components of a fluid handling system intended to be the core of a chemical microanalyzer for measuring heavy metals in ground water. The first fluidic component is a micropump with built-in passive valves. The pump body is fabricated by thermoplastic moulding, whereas the passive valves are obtained by reaction injection moulding. The second fluidic component is an active valve, also fabricated by thermoplastic moulding. Both devices are driven by miniaturized electromagnetic actuators. Experiments demonstrate that the head pressure produced by the pump is and the maximum flow rate is . The active valve is designed to be normally closed till an external pressure of .

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