Apparatus to move liquid droplets, by an electro-wetting effect, has a plane with groups of base electrodes and a plane with groups of control electrodes with narrow electrode gaps and wide electrode widths

摘要

The apparatus to move liquid droplets, using the effect of electro-wetting, has a plane (1) with several groups (X,Y) each with a number of base electrodes (X1,Y1) and a second plane (2) with groups (A,B) each containing a number of control electrodes (A1,B1). The planes are spaced apart (3) in parallel and all electrodes have a flat active surface. All the electrodes within a group are electrically interconnected and controlled together. Separate electrodes of the groups, within a plane, are regularly alternated. The gaps (4,6) between electrodes in both planes are set so that the droplets at least partially overlap simultaneously at least two neighboring electrodes in the second and/or first plane without using the electro-wetting effect. The gaps between electrodes are relatively small and the electrode widths (5,7) are relatively large.