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Cryogenic cooling has become a widely adopted technique to improve the performance of electronics and sensors. A potential application of an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) pumping system is its use in pumping fluids in cryogenic cooling systems. In this paper, we present the results of a theoretical/experimental investigation to study the feasibility of using an EHD injection micropump for pumping liquid nitrogen. First, the mechanisms of charge transport and ionization phenomenon in cryogenic liquids are discussed. Next, the design and fabrication of an EHD injection micropump that employs an array of interdigitated saw-tooth/plane electrodes are described. Finally, experimental results and observations are presented. An asymmetric saw-tooth/plane geometry was designed to achieve a strong inhomogeneous electric field. Each emitter electrode had a base width of 10 µm. Each tooth on the emitter electrode had a base length of 10 µm with a tip angle of 60°. The collector electrode consisted of a planar strip with a width of 10 µm. The gap between emitter and collector electrodes was 20 µm. The distance between each neighboring stage (a pair of emitter and collector electrodes) was 40 µm. The patterned area was 10 mm by 20 mm allowing approximately 200 stages to be fabricated along the length of the micropump. The maximum pressure head achieved by this micropump in the absence of a net flow was 550 and 205 Pa for 3M's HFE-7100 thermal fluid and liquid nitrogen, respectively. Also, the maximum mass flow rate was 3.9 g/min at the generated pressure of 180 Pa during a closed loop test with HFE-7100. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and testing of a novel electrohydrodynamic (EHD) ion-drag micropump. In order to maximize the electrical field gradients that are responsible for EHD pumping, we incorporated three-dimensional (3-D) triangular bumps of solder as part of the EHD electrodes. To form these bumps, Niobium was sputter-deposited onto a ceramic substrate, coated with photoresist, optically exposed and etched using a reactive ion etcher to define the electrode pattern. The substrate was then "dipped" into a molten solder pool. Since the solder adheres only to the metallic film, bumps of solder form on the electrodes, giving the electrodes a significant 3-D character. The overall dimensions of the micropump are 19 mm × 32 mm × 1.05 mm. Four different designs were fabricated and tested. Static pressure tests were performed with a 3M Thermal Fluid (HFE-7100) as the working fluid and the optimum design was identified. The results with the thermal fluid were highly promising and indicated a pumping head of up to 700 Pa at an applied voltage of 300 V. The experimental results for the four different designs show that the presence of the 3-D bump structures significantly improves the pumping performance. Also, a much better pumping performance was obtained with the micropump in which the emitter had a saw-tooth shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]