Electrodes for Microfluidic Integrated Optoelectronic Tweezers

We report on two types of electrodes that enable the integration of optoelectronic tweezers (OETs) with multilayer poly(dimethylsilane)- (PDMS-) based microfluidic devices. Both types of electrodes, Au-mesh and single-walled carbon nanotube- (SWNT-) embedded PDMS thin film, are optically transparent, electrically conductive, and can be mechanically deformed and provide interfaces to form strong covalent bonding between an OET device and PDMS through standard oxygen plasma treatment. Au-mesh electrodes provide high electrical conductivity and high transparency but are lack of flexibility and allow only small deformation. On the other hand, SWNT-embedded PDMS thin film electrodes provide not only electrical conductivity but also optical transparency and can undergo large mechanical deformation repeatedly without failure. This enables, for the first time, microfluidic integrated OET with on-chip valve and pump functions, which is a critical step for OET-based platforms to conduct more complex and multistep biological and biochemical analyses