Numerical modeling of dielectrophoresis using a meshless approach

Abstract

Manipulation and separation of micro-sized particles, particularly in biological particles, using the dielectrophoretic (DEP) effect is an emerging application in MEMS technology. This paper presents a novel meshless numerical method—a weighted least square difference scheme, for solving electric fields and DEP forces generated by a typical interdigitated electrode array. Two cases were studied. First, a two-phase DEP interdigitated array was solved with the first-order approximate boundary condition and the exact boundary condition. The numerical results under these two conditions were compared. The numerical results under the approximate boundary condition were compared and verified with the analytical results obtained from the separation of variables method. The inaccuracy due to the approximate boundary condition was summarized. Second, a four-phase traveling wave DEP electrode array with the exact boundary condition was studied. The numerical results, including potential and twDEP forces, demonstrated that the modeling methodology is well suited for analysis of various DEP systems.