Abstract: Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is one of the most popular techniques for bio-particle manipulation in microfluidic systems. Traditional calculation of dielectrophoretic forces of single particle based on the approximation of equivalent dipole moment (EDM) cannot be directly applied on the dense particle interactions in an electrical field. The Maxwell stress tensor (MST) method is strictly accurate in the theory for dielectrophoretic forces of particle interaction, but the cumbersome and complicated numerical computation greatly limits its practical applications. A novel iterative dipole moment (IDM) method is presented in this work for calculating the dielectrophoretic forces of particle-particle interactions. The accuracy, convergence, and simplicity of the IDM are confirmed by a series of examples of two-particle interaction in a DC/AC electrical field. The results indicate that the IDM is able to calculate the DEP particle interaction forces in good agreement with the MST method. The IDM is a purely analytical operation and does not require complicated numerical computation for solving the differential equations of an electrical field while the particle is moving.

Key words: dielectrophoresis (DEP), particle interaction, Maxwell stress tensor (MST), equivalent dipole moment (EDM), iterative dipole moment (IDM)