Design of electrode topologies for dielectrophoresis through the use of genetic optimization with COMSOL Multiphysics

Dielectrophoresis is an electric effect enabling the contact-free manipulation of cells and other small particles. The forces applied to particles experiencing dielectrophoresis are highly dependent on the gradient of the electric field experienced by said particles. In constrained design problems in which voltages are upper-bounded, modifying the shape of the electrodes that generate the electric field is the primary option available to increase the applied force. This paper provides readers with a fast, easy-to-implement technique to optimize dielectrophoresis electrodes for any planar electrode design problem. The procedure to numerically simulate electrodes using COMSOL Multiphysics is described, and the approach is demonstrated through the optimization of a custom electrode design problem.