Dielectrophoresis (DEP), the phenomenon of directed motion of electrically polarizable particles in a nonuniform electric field, is promising for applications in biochemical separation and filtration. For colloidal particles in suspension, the relaxation of the ionic species in the shear layer gives rise to a frequency-dependent, bidirectional DEP force in the radio frequency range. However, quantification methods of the DEP force on individual particles with the pico-Newton resolution required for the development of theories and design of device applications are lacking. We report the use of optical tweezers as a force sensor and a lock-in phase-sensitive technique for analysis of the particlemotion in an amplitude modulated DEP force. The coherent detection and sensing scheme yielded not only unprecedented sensitivity for DEP force measurements, but also provided a selectivity that clearly distinguishes the pure DEP force from all the other forces in the system, including electrophoresis, electro-osmosis, heat-induced convection, and Brownian forces, all of which can hamper accurate measurements through other existingmethods. Using optical tweezers-based force transducers already developed in our laboratory, we have results that quantify the frequency-dependent DEP forceand the crossover frequency of individual particles with this new experimental method.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Direct measurements of the frequency-dependent dielectrophoresis force
Ming-Tzo Wei, Joseph Junio, and H. Daniel Ou-Yang
Dielectrophoresis (DEP), the phenomenon of directed motion of electrically polarizable particles in a nonuniform electric field, is promising for applications in biochemical separation and filtration. For colloidal particles in suspension, the relaxation of the ionic species in the shear layer gives rise to a frequency-dependent, bidirectional DEP force in the radio frequency range. However, quantification methods of the DEP force on individual particles with the pico-Newton resolution required for the development of theories and design of device applications are lacking. We report the use of optical tweezers as a force sensor and a lock-in phase-sensitive technique for analysis of the particlemotion in an amplitude modulated DEP force. The coherent detection and sensing scheme yielded not only unprecedented sensitivity for DEP force measurements, but also provided a selectivity that clearly distinguishes the pure DEP force from all the other forces in the system, including electrophoresis, electro-osmosis, heat-induced convection, and Brownian forces, all of which can hamper accurate measurements through other existingmethods. Using optical tweezers-based force transducers already developed in our laboratory, we have results that quantify the frequency-dependent DEP forceand the crossover frequency of individual particles with this new experimental method.
Dielectrophoresis (DEP), the phenomenon of directed motion of electrically polarizable particles in a nonuniform electric field, is promising for applications in biochemical separation and filtration. For colloidal particles in suspension, the relaxation of the ionic species in the shear layer gives rise to a frequency-dependent, bidirectional DEP force in the radio frequency range. However, quantification methods of the DEP force on individual particles with the pico-Newton resolution required for the development of theories and design of device applications are lacking. We report the use of optical tweezers as a force sensor and a lock-in phase-sensitive technique for analysis of the particlemotion in an amplitude modulated DEP force. The coherent detection and sensing scheme yielded not only unprecedented sensitivity for DEP force measurements, but also provided a selectivity that clearly distinguishes the pure DEP force from all the other forces in the system, including electrophoresis, electro-osmosis, heat-induced convection, and Brownian forces, all of which can hamper accurate measurements through other existingmethods. Using optical tweezers-based force transducers already developed in our laboratory, we have results that quantify the frequency-dependent DEP forceand the crossover frequency of individual particles with this new experimental method.
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