Optically Modulated Propulsion of Electric Field Powered Photoconducting Janus Particles

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how light can be used to control the movement and interactions of electrically powered Janus particles with ZnO coatings, enabling enhanced mobility and collective behavior manipulation.

Contribution

It introduces optically modulated electrokinetic propulsion (OMEP) for Janus particles, combining optical and electrical control for improved particle mobility and interaction management.

Findings

Optical activation increases particle mobility via enhanced conductivity.

Light enables control over collective particle behavior.

Demonstrated control of particle-particle interactions in dense populations.

Abstract

Herein we demonstrate the ability to optically tune the mobility of electrically powered Janus particles (JP) that are half coated with various Zinc Oxide (ZnO) semiconducting layers, i.e. polycrystalline, amorphous and amorphous with a SiO2 passivation layer. The ZnO semiconductor photo-response enables increase in its electrical conductivity with light having wavelengths of sufficient photon energy with respect to the semiconductor bandgap. This effect, termed optically modulated electrokinetic propulsion (OMEP), can be harnessed to increase the contrast in polarizability between the dielectric and semiconducting hemispheres, which in turn, results in an increased electrokinetic mobility. The addition of optical activation to the electrical field enables an additional degree of control of JP mobility. We also demonstrate optical control of collective behavior and particle-particle interactions for dense semi-conducting Janus particle populations.