Propulsion of Planar V-Shaped Microswimmers in a Conically Rotating Magnetic Field

Abstract

Planar magnetic microswimmers bear great potential for in vivo biomedical applications as they can be mass-produced at minimal costs using standard photolithography techniques. Therefore, it is central to understand how to control their motion. This study examines the propulsion of planar V-shaped microswimmers in an aqueous solution powered by a conically rotating magnetic field and compares the experimental results with theory. Propulsion is investigated upon altering the cone angle of the driving field. It is shown that a V-shaped microswimmer magnetized along its symmetry axis exhibits unidirectional in-sync propulsion with a constant (frequency-independent) velocity in a limited band of actuation frequencies. It is also demonstrated that the motion of individual and multiple in-plane magnetized planar microswimmers in a conically rotating field can be efficiently controlled.