Continuous Particle Trapping, Switching, and Sorting Utilizing a Combination of Dielectrophoresis and Alternating Current Electrothermal Flow

We propose a simplified multifunctional traffic control approach that effectively combines dielectrophoresis (DEP) and alternating current electrothermal (ACET) flow to realize continuous particle trapping, switching, and sorting. In the designed microsystem, the combined DEP and ACET effects, which are symmetrically generated above a bipolar electrode surface, contribute to focus the incoming colloidal particles into a thin beam. Once the bipolar electrode is energized with an electric gate signal completely in phase with the driving alternating current (AC) signal, the spatial symmetry of the electric field can be artificially reordered by adjusting the gate voltage through field-effect traffic control. This results in a reshapable field stagnant region for precise switching of particles into the region of interest. Moreover, the integrated particle switching prior to the scaled particle trapping experiment is successfully conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the combined strategy. Furthermore, a...