Sorting of mesoscopic particles driven through periodic potential landscapes

Sorting of colloidal particles of different sizes is of importance in the transport and delivery of such particles in biological, materials science, and other technological contexts. A successful methodology involves the flow of a mixture of particles over designer surfaces presenting a periodic array of traps (optical tweezers) or microfabricated obstacles. The trajectories of the particles over these surfaces deviate from the direction of flow as the particles are attracted (traps) or repelled (obstacles) by the features of the landscape. The deviation of the particles from that of the flow depends on particle size (or on some other particle characteristic) and hence the particles can be sorted according to trajectory direction. On the basis of extensive numerical simulations, we present a unified view of these methodologies and discuss the effects of system parameters such as the magnitude and direction of the flow on the sorting efficacy.