Microfabricating Conjugated Polymer Actuators
Edwin W. H. Jager,1*
Elisabeth Smela,2
Olle Inganäs1
Conjugated polymer actuators can be operated in aqueous
media, which makes them attractive for laboratories-on-a-chip and applications under physiological conditions. One of the most stable conjugated polymers under these conditions is polypyrrole, which can be
patterned by means of standard photolithography. Polypyrrole-gold bilayer actuators that bend out of the plane of the wafer have been
microfabricated in our laboratory. These can be used to move and
position other microcomponents. Here we review the current status of
these microactuators, outlining the methods used to fabricate them. We
describe the devices that have been demonstrated as well as some
potential future applications.
1 Biomolecular and Organic Electronics,
Department of Physics and Measurement Technology, Linköpings
universitet, S-581 83, Linköping, Sweden.
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University
of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
edjag{at}ifm.liu.se
