Electric-field-assisted fluidic assembly of inorganic and organic materials, molecules and like small things including living cells

A method of assembling any of inorganic and bio-organic substances and molecules, and beads, pucks and other small things that are capable of holding an electrical charge, the method comprising:

• first patterning a photosensitive electrode by selectively exposing it with masked radiation so as to pattern the electrode into first and second electrically charged regions;
• placing any of inorganic and bio-organic substances and molecules, and beads, pucks and other small things that are electrically charged to an electrical polarity opposite to that of the second charged region within a fluid transport medium upon the first-patterned photosensitive electrode;
• and
• imposing an electrical field across the fluid transport medium so that the electrically-charged inorganic and bio-organic substances and molecules, and beads, pucks and other small things that are within the fluid transport medium will migrate to the second charged region of the patterned photosensitive electrode, which region is of opposite polarity to the polarity of the electrically-charged inorganic and bio-organic substances and molecules, and beads, pucks and other small things;
• wherein the inorganic and bio-organic substances and molecules, and beads, pucks and other small things assume the pattern of the photosensitive electrode second region that resulted from exposure of the photosensitive electrode with masked radiation.

A method of assembling small things that are capable of holding an electrical charge, the method comprising:

• spacing parallel a semiconductor first electrode at a separation from a transparent second electrode;
• photolithographically patterning with light transmitted through the transparent second electrode the semiconductor first electrode so that first regions of the first electrode are electrically charged to a first electrical polarity while second regions of the first electrode are electrically charged to a second, opposite, electrical polarity;
• placing a liquid medium containing small things that are capable of holding an electrical charge between the first and the second electrode;
• and
• electrically charging the small things to a first electrical polarity;
• wherein the small things that are electrically charged to the first electrical polarity are electrically attracted to the second regions of the patterned photosensitive electrode that are charged to the second electrical polarity, and will thus assume the pattern of these second regions.