Experimental Study of Two-frequency Dielectrophoresis Effects on a Linear Electrode Array

Dielectrophoresis is a powerful tool for the manipulation of particles and biological cells. The magnitude and direction of the DEP force is determined by the comparative conductivity and permeability of the medium and the particle. Most previous work has focused on single frequency studies. In this paper, we present the work of two frequency dielectrophroesis effects on a linear electrode array. We show results where the advantage of applying two frequencies is to separate particles having similar dielectric properties. In addition, we report the first experimental data on breaking of DEP trapping zone by adding a low frequency signal to the main frequency signal. The phenomenon is due to a system disturbance by electro-hydrodynamic effect and has potential applications in DEP mixing and advanced control of particles.