Trapping of Microparticles by a Quadrupole Trap Using Pulsed Periodic Rectangular Voltage

The effect of a rectangular voltage waveform on the trapping of micron-sized dielectric charged particles in an electrodynamic quadrupole trap in air has been examined experimentally and theoretically for the first time. The lower trapping limits are compared for the trap with rectangular and sinusoidal voltage waveforms. Trajectories of microparticles are calculated for two voltage waveforms at different amplitudes. Experiments and calculations show that the trap with the rectangular voltage waveform traps particles at a lower voltage amplitude in comparison with that with sinusoidal waveform, and the trajectories for the former are more stable.