Dielectrophoresis-based microfluidic devices fabricated by soft lithography

Dielectrophoresis is the force that neutrally charged objects experience when they are situated in a non-uniform electric field causing them to translate. This thesis describes the development of dielectrophoretic-based microfluidic devices to trap and separate bioparticles. A demonstration of these devices to separate latex beads is presented. These microdevices were fabricated with common lithography and soft lithography techniques in a clean room facility. A custom frequency signal generator and software tools were also built to aid in the realization and analysis of experiments, to facilitate the operation of the devices, and to decrease their implementation costs.; Microfluidic devices require mechanisms to control and regulate the assays performed on them. A peristaltic micropump and microfluidic valves were fabricated by multilayer soft lithography to satisfy this necessity. A pneumatic system was designed and a control board was built to operate these microfluidic components.