Exploring the Limits of Dielectrophoretic Nanoassembly

Limitations of dielectrophoretic (DEP) assembly for gold particles and optical dielectrophoretic (ODEP) manipulation of spherical particles are theoretically analyzed in this article. The results in the "Gold Nanoparticle Assembly" section reveal that the core-shell sphere polarization model is effective for characterizing the frequency-dependent mechanism of DEP manipulation, which concludes that the rate of gold pearl chains formation tended to zero at highand low-frequency limits and had a maximum at a narrow midrange frequency band. Analysis with scaling laws shows that approximately 2 nm will be the size limit for the DEP assembly of gold particles. In the "ODEP Manipulation" section, the capabilities of particle transportation in ODEP systems are analyzed. With a virtual spot electrode of 1 ¿m, it is theoretically possible to manipulate 2-nm particles using ODEP systems.