A computer-aided analysis of dielectrophoretic force calculations

It is well-known that a neutral but polarizable particle, suspended in a fluid, under the influence of a non-uniform electric field tends to migrate towards the region of highest field intensity. This migration due to dielectric polarization forces is indicated by Pohl (1951) as `dielectrophoresis´. A computer-aided analysis of dielectrophoretic force calculation in a strong divergent electric field is presented. The proposed theoretical model only uses the well-known potential and electric field in the absence of the particle to calculate the resulting potential and the `excess´ polarization charge at the surface of the dielectric particle. These results are used to calculate the dielectrophoretic force derived from the Maxwell stress tensor