Voltage required to detach an adhered particle by Coulomb interaction for micromanipulation

• Published in: Journal of applied physics Vol. 90; no. 1; pp. 432 - 437
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Kunio, Kajihara, Hideaki, Urago, Masataka, Saito, Shigeki, Mochimaru, Yoshihiro, Onzawa, Tadao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Physical Society 01.07.2001
• Subjects: ADHESION; AXIAL SYMMETRY; BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD; CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; EMPLOYMENT; MANIPULATORS; PHYSICS; SHAPE; SUBSTRATES
• ISSN: 0021-8979; 1089-7550
• DOI: 10.1063/1.1379353

An adhered particle can be detached by Coulomb interaction. The voltage required for detachment for micromanipulation is theoretically analyzed by employment of a boundary element method. The system consists of a manipulating probe, a spherical particle, and a substrate plate, all of these objects being conductive. The manipulator and the substrate are cylindrical, and axial symmetry is assumed. Although a numerical method is used to solve the equations, all parameters are normalized. The effect of the shape parameters on the Coulomb force is systematically calculated. The force is independent of system size and depends on the relative shape of the system. The force is proportional to the applied voltage raised to the second power. The force generated by the Coulomb interaction is compared with the adhesion force deduced from the Johnson–Kendall–Roberts theory, and the voltage required for detachment is clearly expressed. The possibilities and limitations of micromanipulation using both the adhesion phenomenon and Coulomb interaction are theoretically discussed.