A particle analyzer, comprising a source of a substantially nondiffracting light beam; a flow path configured to produce in a flowcell a ribbon-like core stream having a cross-sectional aspect ratio of at least 4 and a largest cross-sectional dimension of at least 50 micrometers; the flowcell being configured to expose a segment of the core stream to the light beam; a detector configured to receive a signal resulting from an interaction of a particle in the core stream with the light beam; a first sorting actuator connected with the flowcell, downstream of the exposed segment of core stream; a plurality of sorting channels in fluid connection with the flow path and downstream of the first actuator; the actuator having multiple actuation states, each state configured to direct at least one part of the core stream to a corresponding channel; a second sorting actuator connected with the flowcell, opposite the first actuator, and operable in coordination with the first actuator.