Nicole Rockweiler with Dr. Robert Blick, L. Jordan Kreuser, and Minrui Yu

UW-Madison Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Conducting materials in the presence of an electric field can have an induced electric dipole moment. The induced electric dipole moment properties of silicon microtubes for the purpose of controlled movement and alignment were investigated using AC and DC electric fields. Clean-room etching processes were used to fabricate the silicon microtubes. Printed circuit board fabrication techniques were used to create the device for applying the electric fields. Silicon microtubes in various aqueous solutions were deposited into a channel in the circuit board device, and movement of the tubes due to the applied fields was captured using an inverted microscope-mounted, charge-coupled-device camera. Controlled movement of the silicon microtubes toward and away from the applied charges was observed. However, alignment of the silicon microtubes with the electric field lines was not seen, which indicates that the movement of the silicon microtubes was due to an inherent static charge rather than an induced dipole moment.