Novel High Pressure Pump-on-a-Chip Technology

HJ Science & Technology, Inc. proposes to develop a novel high pressure "pump-on-a-chip" and "valve-on-a-chip" microfluidic technology for NASA planetary science applications including on-chip sample manipulation and analysis. In particular, we will design, build and demonstrate a miniature high pressure micropump to precisely control fluid flow in microfluidic devices with no moving parts. These micropumps are capable of achieving high pressures with low actuating voltages. Such high performance, small mass and volume, and low power consumption micropumps and microvalves are amenable for implementation at wafer level, ideally suited for chip-based HPLC and other "lab-on-a-chip" sample manipulation applications. For the Phase I effort, we will design, construct, and testing these micropumps. The Phase I research will address issues related to performance as well as production methods that can be used for the technology, as well as designing and determining the integrated micro-device and the Phase II prototype. In the Phase II effort, we will construct and test the final prototypes capable of integrating to HPLC chips and other microfluidic devices.