Particle dipole-dipole interaction in AC electric fields [cellular application]

The authors derive an expression for the dielectrophoretic force and rotational torque acting on two neighbouring particles resulting from dipole-dipole interactions induced by an applied AC electric field. Non-uniformities in both the magnitude and phase components of the induced dipolar fields are found to play an important role in pearl-chain formation. Torque on the two particles is proportional to the product of the out-of-phase components of their dipole-moments. Comparison is made between the rotation of particles induced by non-rotating and rotating applied fields