BIDIRECTIONAL ELECTROWETTING ACTUATION WITH VOLTAGE POLARITY DEPENDENCE

摘要

A novel electrowetting system for the smooth continuous movement of a droplet across a single circuit using a continuous applied voltage regardless of polarity. The actuation of the droplet is achieved by introducing a diode into the idealized electrical circuit of the electrowetting system. The diode is in parallel with a capacitor (dielectric) and effectively shorts the droplet on the side of a higher potential electrode so that the entire voltage drop is across the dielectric over the opposite electrode. This creates an energy imbalance that moves the droplet towards the lower potential. If the voltage polarity is reversed, the direction of actuation will reverse as well.