Design and testing of a polymeric microgripper for cell manipulation

Solano, B; Wood, D

doi:10.1016/j.mee.2007.01.153

Design and testing of a polymeric microgripper for cell manipulation

Solano, B; Wood, D

Authors

B Solano

D Wood

Contributors

JJ Atherton mqwh75@durham.ac.uk
Other

Abstract

This work presents the design, fabrication and testing of a thermally actuated microgripper for the manipulation of single cells and other biological particles. This microgripper has been fabricated with a particular combination of surface micromachining techniques that permit the release of stress-free polymer (SU8)/metal (Au) structures without the use of sacrificial layers. The inclusion of novel thermal actuators, which completely eliminate the parasitic resistance of the cold arm, improves considerably the efficiency of the system and therefore enables large displacements at low input voltages and operating temperatures. Two types of microgripper have been fabricated and tested producing displacements of up to 262 μm at 1.94 V input voltage and 78 mW power. Micromanipulation experiments have successfully demonstrated the gripping, holding and positioning of a micro-sized object.

Citation

Solano, B., & Wood, D. (2007). Design and testing of a polymeric microgripper for cell manipulation. Microelectronic Engineering, 84(5-8), 1219-1222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2007.01.153

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	May 1, 2007
Deposit Date	Oct 15, 2009
Journal	Microelectronic Engineering
Print ISSN	0167-9317
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	84
Issue	5-8
Pages	1219-1222
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2007.01.153
Keywords	Micromanipulation, Bio-MEMS, Microgripper, Electrothermal actuators, SU8 polymer, Electrostatically driven microgripper, Fabrication, Gripper.