Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (Mar 2022)

Parallel Manipulation and Flexible Assembly of Micro-Spiral via Optoelectronic Tweezers

  • Shuzhang Liang,
  • Jiayu Sun,
  • Chaonan Zhang,
  • Zixi Zhu,
  • Yuguo Dai,
  • Chunyuan Gan,
  • Jun Cai,
  • Huawei Chen,
  • Huawei Chen,
  • Lin Feng,
  • Lin Feng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.868821
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Micro-spiral has a wide range of applications in smart materials, such as drug delivery, deformable materials, and micro-scale electronic devices by utilizing the manipulation of electric fields, magnetic fields, and flow fields. However, it is incredibly challenging to achieve a massively parallel manipulation of the micro-spiral to form a particular microstructure in these conventional methods. Here, a simple method is reported for assembling micro-spirals into various microstructures via optoelectronic tweezers (OETs), which can accurately manipulate the micro-/bio-particles by projecting light patterns. The manipulation force of micro-spiral is analyzed and simulated first by the finite element simulation. When the micro-spiral lies at the bottom of the microfluidic chip, it can be translated or rotated toward the target position by applying control forces simultaneously at multiple locations on the long axis of the micro-spiral. Through the OET manipulation, the length of the micro-spiral chain can reach 806.45 μm. Moreover, the different parallel manipulation modes are achieved by utilizing multiple light spots. The results show that the micro-spirulina can be manipulated by a real-time local light pattern and be flexibly assembled into design microstructures by OETs, such as a T-shape circuit, link lever, and micro-coil pairs of devices. This assembly method using OETs has promising potential in fabricating innovative materials and microdevices for practical engineering applications.

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