Plasmonic nanopores for single molecule sensing

Grabbing a single molecule and inspecting its contents is far from easy. Apart from the small size of the objects, biomolecules shake, shimmer, and bounce around a tremendous amount. How can one gently control something that small (without squashing or destroying it) and still be able to tell what it is? The work in this thesis is exactly aimed...

Active delivery of single DNA molecules into a plasmonic nanopore for label-free optical sensing

Plasmon resonance biosensors provide ultimate sensitivity at the single-molecule level. This sensitivity is, however, associated with a nanometer-sized confined hotspot, and molecular transport toward the sensor relies on inefficient diffusion. Here, we combine a plasmonic nanoantenna with a solid-state nanopore and demonstrate that single...

Label-Free Optical Detection of DNA Translocations through Plasmonic Nanopores

Solid-state nanopores are single-molecule sensors that hold great potential for rapid protein and nucleic-acid analysis. Despite their many opportunities, the conventional ionic current detection scheme that is at the heart of the sensor suffers inherent limitations. This scheme intrinsically couples signal strength to the driving voltage,...