Opto-electric particle manipulation on a bismuth silicon oxide crystal

High-throughput manipulation of microparticles can be efficiently accomplished using electrokinetic effects. In this contribution, we demonstrate the two-dimensional investigation of internal space-charge fields inside a bismuth silicon oxide (BSO) crystal and their use for optically mediated particle trapping. The magnitude of the internal fields as well as the time constant for its build-up are measured by Zernike phase contrast and digital holography. The fast response time of a BSO crystal at very low light powers enables real-time generation of high electric field gradients. We demonstrate that this photoconductive material facilitates both electrophoretic and dielectrophoretic trapping of particles on an accessible surface.