Patent ID: 8409417

Claim:
An apparatus for liquid manipulation, comprising (a) a substrate comprising a first substrate surface; (b) a first array of elongated drive electrodes disposed on the first substrate surface, wherein spacing between adjacent elongated drive electrodes of the first array is from approximately 0.005 mm to approximately 10 mm; (c) a first dielectric layer disposed on the first substrate surface to cover the first array of drive electrodes; (d) a second array of elongated drive electrodes, substantially perpendicular to the first array, disposed on the first dielectric layer, wherein spacing between adjacent elongated drive electrodes of the second array is from approximately 0.005 mm to approximately 10 mm, wherein the first dielectric layer separates the first array of elongated drive electrodes and the second array of drive electrodes; (e) a second dielectric layer disposed on the first substrate surface to cover the second array of drive electrodes; and (f) an electrode selector for sequentially activating and de-activating one or more selected drive electrodes of the two arrays to sequentially bias the selected drive electrodes actuation voltages, whereby a droplet disposed on the substrate surface moves along a desired path defined by the selected drive electrodes.