# Particle assembly with synchronized acoustical tweezers

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel method for assembling multiple microscale particles using synchronized acoustical vortices, overcoming previous limitations and enabling precise patterning for applications like tissue engineering.

## Contribution

It introduces a synchronized vortex approach that allows for the assembly of multiple particles, a capability not demonstrated before with acoustical tweezers.

## Key findings

- Successful assembly of multiple particles using synchronized vortices.
- Destructive interference creates attractive paths between particles.
- Potential for precise particle patterning in microscale applications.

## Abstract

The contactless selective manipulation of individual objects at the microscale is powerfully enabled by acoustical tweezers based on acoustical vortices [Baudoin et al., Sci. Adv., 5:eaav1967 (2019)]. Nevertheless, the ability to assemble multiple objects with these tweezers has not yet been demonstrated yet and is critical for many applications, such as tissue engineering or microrobotics. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to overcome a major difficulty: the ring of high intensity ensuring particles trapping at the core of the vortex beam is repulsive for particles located outside the trap. This prevents the assembly of multiple objects. In this paper, we show (in the Rayleigh limit and in 2D) that this problem can be overcome by trapping the target objects at the core of two synchronized vortices. Indeed, in this case, the destructive interference between neighboring vortices enables to create an attractive path between the captured objects. The present work may pioneer particles precise assembly and patterning with multi-tweezers.