Controlled Transport of Individual Microparticles Using Dielectrophoresis

A dielectrophoretic device employing a planar array of microelectrodes is designed for controlled transport of individual microparticles. By exciting the electrodes in sequence, a moving dielectrophoretic force is created that can drag a particle across the electrodes in a straight line. The electrode shapes are designed to counter any lateral drift of the trapped particle during transport. This facilitates single particle transport by creating a narrow two-dimensional corridor for the moving dielectrophoretic force to operate on. The design and analysis processes are discussed in detail. Numerical simulations are performed to calculate the electromagnetic field distribution and the generated dielectrophoretic force near the electrodes. The Langevin equation is used for analyzing the trajectory of a microparticle under the influence of the external forces. The simulations show how the designed electrode geometry produces the necessary lateral confinement required for successful particle transport. Finally, experimental results are presented showing controlled bidirectional linear transport of single polystyrene beads of radius 10 and 5 μm for a distances 840 and 1100 μm, respectively. The capabilities of the proposed platform make it suitable for micro total analysis systems (μTAS) and lab-on-a-chip (LOC) applications.