Electrically induced microflows probed by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

We report on the experimental characterisation of electrically induced flows at the micrometer scale through Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) measurements. We stress the potential of FCS as a useful characterisation technique in microfluidics devices for transport properties cartography. The experimental results obtained in a model situation are in agreement with previous calculations (F. Nadal, F. Argoul, P. Kestener, B. Pouligny, C. Ybert, A. Ajdari, Eur. Phys. J. E 9, 387 (2002)) predicting the structure and electric-field dependency of the induced flow. Additionally, the present study evidences a complex behaviour of the probe nanobeads under electric field whose precise understanding might prove relevant for situations where nano-objects interact with an external electric field.