Manipulation of Microscale Objects Utilizing the Smectic-Isotropic Phase Interface Force by a Liquid Crystalline Microactuator Device

We aim to develop the soft microactuator device that allows manipulating microscale objects by the interfacial force between the liquid crystal and isotropic phases. In previous work, the interfacial force between the nematic and isotropic phases is 1.4nN. To extend the application of the device, we focus on the interfacial force between the smectic and isotropic phases. From the experiments, the smectic-isotropic interfacial force is found to be more than 30 times stronger than the nematic-isotropic interfacial force. The results show that potential usage of this micro-actuator device that enables the manipulation of biological cells without damage.