| abstract |
The invention relates to a device for measuring viscosity in small volumes of liquid, in particular for affinity viscometry, including the relevant measurement methods and methods for producing the device. DOLLAR A The device is implemented on a substrate suitable for the production of microelectronic circuits, preferably on a silicon body. It has an integrated miniaturized measuring zone and integrated conductor tracks or conductive areas that are guided at a short distance from one another, at least one of which is suspended in a self-supporting manner in the measuring zone and is elastically moved there by variable, electrostatically or electromagnetically generated attraction or repulsion forces. The distance between the self-supporting conductor track and the substrate or between the self-supporting conductor tracks is preferably measured capacitively with a high-frequency AC voltage. The change in the deforming force takes place sufficiently quickly during the measuring process, so that there is a viscosity-dependent time shift between the change in the distance and the change in the deforming force, which is used to measure the viscosity. In a variant of the invention suitable for the production of a viscometric affinity sensor, the miniaturized measuring zone is located in the space designed as a measuring chamber between the rod-shaped tip of a ... |