Synthetic solid-state nanopores are being intensively investigated as single-molecule sensors for detection and characterization of DNA, RNA and proteins. This field has been inspired by the exquisite selectivity and flux demonstrated by natural biological channels and the dream of emulating these behaviours in more robust synthetic materials that are more readily integrated into practical devi...

This chapter is focused on the development of experiments and theory of using solid-state nanopores for sensing single protein molecules in their native and unfolded states. Proteins serve diverse roles such as transport carriers, catalysts, molecular motors, cellular structural support, and others that make life possible. Because of these widely differing roles, proteins have an enormously div...

Solid-state nanopores have emerged as sensors for single molecules and these have been employed to examine the biophysical properties of an increasingly large variety of biomolecules. Herein we describe a novel and facile approach to precisely adjust the pore size, while simultaneously controlling the surface chemical composition of the solid-state nanopores. Specifically, nanopores fabricated ...

There are over 100 enzyme-catalyzed modifications on transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules. The levels and identity of wobble uridine (U) modifications are affected by environmental conditions and diseased states, making wobble U detection a potential biomarker for exposures and pathological conditions. The current detection of RNA modifications requires working with nucleosides in bulk samples. Nanopo...

We report on the fabrication of periodic arrays of deep nanopores with high aspect ratios in crystalline silicon. The radii and pitches of the pores were defined in a chromium mask by means of deep UV scan and step technology. The pores were etched with a reactive ion etching process with SF(6), optimized for the formation of deep nanopores. We have realized structures with pitches between 440 ...

In charged nanopores, ionic diffusion current reflects the selectivity and permeability of which determines performance osmotic energy conversion, i.e., output power efficiency. Here, theoretical predictions diffusive currents through cation-selective nanopores have been developed based on investigation transport under salt gradients with simulations. The I satisfies a reciprocal relationship p...

The advent of DNA sequencing has revolutionized fundamental research and brought incredible hope for personalized medicine. However, the race still continues for cheaper and faster techniques that can surpass conventional methods and ultimately reach the $1000 genome goal. This thesis describes the fabrication and first characterizations of nanopores-based devices with embedded tunneling electr...

Detection and characterization of nucleic acid-protein interactions, particularly those involving DNA and transcription factors, remain significant barriers to our understanding of genetic regulation. Solid-state nanopores are extremely sensitive single molecule sensors with the capability to map local chemical and structural characteristics along the length of a biopolymer, providing label-fre...

The detection of analytes and the sequencing DNA using biological nanopores have seen major advances over recent years. analysis proteins peptides with nanopores, however, is complicated by complex physicochemical structure polypeptides lack understanding mechanism capture recognition nanopores. In this work, we show that introducing aromatic amino acids at precise positions within lumen α-heli...