Design and simulation of a dielectrophoretic-based microsystem for bioparticle handling

Nowadays, handling of biological objects at the single-cell level is one of the most active and important research fields. To achieve this goal, dimensions of the required tools must roughly match those of the bioparticles at issue, usually ranging from 1 to 100 mum. The objective of this paper consists of presenting a microsystem designed for particle microhandling. Some results with polystyrene microspheres are also presented. The operating principle of the aforementioned microsystem hinges upon dielectrophoresis (DEP), which is defined as the lateral motion of electrically neutral matter under the influence of non-uniform electric fields. In practice, the device was fabricated on a silicon substrate onto which interdigitated castellated microelectrodes made of platinum were patterned by lift-off. Moreover, the substrate was micromachined utilising TMAH to anisotropically etch the silicon wafer. Microchamber walls were patterned by PDMS, a photocurable resin which allows a constant sample volume when performing the experiments.