Micromanipulation de particules polarisables par diélectrophorèse

Dielectrophoresis can be described as the translational motion of neutral particles caused by polarization effects in a non-uniform electric field. It finds a wide range of applications, such as separation and isolation of particles, cell handling prior to electrofusion, or cell characterization. This paper describes the design and fabrication steps of microdevices devoted to cell manipulation by electric field. The results presented here show latex beads or cells undergoing either positive or negative dielectrophoretic force. We also illustrate how dielectrophoresis can be used to separate particles on the basis of differential polarisability. These results are compared with electric field simulations undertaken using a 3D finite element modelling.