Electric Field Patterning of Dielectric Particles in Liquid Polymers
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Arrays of microelectrodes were used to apply forces to dielectric (Soda Lime glass) spheres in a thin (200 micrometer thick) layer of a dielectric liquid polymer (EPON 8021). The microelectrodes were fabricated using standard photolithographic methods of evaporating and electroplating gold onto a glass substrate. The objective is to use the electric forces (or dielectrophoresis) to position the spheres in a microscale pattern, in this case a square array in-plane. Three sizes of spheres were used: 30, 90, and 170 micron diameter. The 30 micron spheres formed clusters, whereas single 90 micron spheres were located at the lattice sites of highest electric energy density. The experiments indicated that free charges, either in the volume of the sphere and/or on the sphere surface, significantly influence the motion of the sphere. A preliminary finite element analysis was performed to calculate the electric force resultant on the particles. Copyright 2006 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.