Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Title

A Capillary Microgripper based on Electrowetting

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

An electrowetting based capillary microgripper, which can pick up and release micro-objects, is presented. Electrowetting was utilized to dynamically change the contact angle between the liquid bridge and the gripper surface to control the capillary lifting forces. A coplanar interdigitated goldelectrode pair was employed to simplify the microfabrication. The lifting force generated by the microgripper was experimentally characterized. The pickup and release routine was demonstrated for various micro glass beads whose weight ranges from 77 to 136 μN. The design, microfabrication, and testing of the microgripper are presented.

Publication Title

Applied Physics Letters

Volume

93

Issue

10

First Page

103503

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