Magnetic Helical Micromachines: Fabrication, Controlled Swimming, and Cargo Transport

1. Soichiro Tottori^1,2, 
2. Li Zhang^1,*, 
3. Famin Qiu¹,
4. Krzysztof K. Krawczyk³, 
5. Alfredo Franco-Obregón³, 
6. Bradley J. Nelson¹

Article first published online: 2 JAN 2012

A simple and general fabrication method for helical swimming micromachines by direct laser writing and e-beam evaporation is demonstrated. The magnetic helical devices exhibit varying magnetic shape anisotropy, yet always generate corkscrew motion using a rotating magnetic field. They also exhibit good swimming performance and are capable of pick-and-place micromanipulation in 3D. Cytotoxicity of the devices was investigated using mouse myoblasts.