Evaluating and forecasting movement patterns of magnetically driven microbeads in complex geometries

Abstract

The manipulation of superparamagnetic microbeads for lab-on-a-chip applications relies on the steering of microbeads across an altering stray field landscape on top of soft magnetic parent structures. Using ab initio principles, we show three-dimensional simulations forecasting the controlled movement of microbeads. Simulated aspects of microbead behaviour include the looping and lifting of microbeads around a magnetic circular structure, the flexible bead movement along symmetrically distributed triangular structures, and the dragging of magnetic beads across an array of exchange biased magnetic microstripes. The unidirectional motion of microbeads across a string of oval elements is predicted by simulations and validated experimentally. Each of the simulations matches the experimental results, proving the robustness and accuracy of the applied numerical method. The computer experiments provide details on the particle motion not accessible by experiments. The simulation capabilities prove to be an essential part for the estimation of future lab-on-chip designs.