Microdroplet Actuation via Light Line Optoelectrowetting (LL-OEW)

  • Meanwhile, electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is a well-known phenomenon, even often exploited in active micro-optics to change the curvature of microdroplet lenses or in analytical chemistry with digital microfluidics (DMF, lab on a chip 2.0) to move/ actuate microdroplets. Optoelectrowetting (OEW) can bring more flexibility to DMF because in OEW, the operating point of the lab chip is locally controlled by a beam of light, usually impinging onto the chip perpendicularly. As opposed to pure EWOD, for OEW, none of the electrodes has to be structured, which makes the chip design and production technology simpler; the path of any actuated droplet is determined by the movement of the light spot. However, for applications in analytical chemistry, it would be helpful if the space both below as well as that above the lab chip were not obstructed by any optical components and light sources. Here, we report on the possibility to actuate droplets by laser light beams, which traverse the setup parallel to the chip surface and inside the OEW layer sequence. Since microdroplets are grabbed by this surface-parallel, nondiverging, and nonexpanded light beam, we call this principle “light line OEW” (LL-OEW).

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Author:Christoph DöringORCiD, Johannes StrassnerORCiD, Henning FouckhardtORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:386-kluedo-68873
Parent Title (English):International Journal of Analytical Chemistry
Publisher:Hindawi
Place of publication:London
Document Type:Article
Language of publication:English
Date of Publication (online):2021/12/23
Year of first Publication:2021
Publishing Institution:Technische Universität Kaiserslautern
Date of the Publication (Server):2022/07/21
Issue:Volume 2021, Article ID 3402411
Page Number:9
Source:https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/3402411
Faculties / Organisational entities:Kaiserslautern - Fachbereich Physik
DDC-Cassification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 530 Physik
Collections:Open-Access-Publikationsfonds
Licence (German):Zweitveröffentlichung