Introduction for solid state membranes for bio-molecules sensing and manipulation

摘要

Today's semiconductor nanotechnology has advanced to fabricate solid-state structures with fearure sizes comparable to the separation between atoms in bio-molecular systems. At the same time, progress in mesoscopic physics has demonstrated sensing capabilities of nanoscale capacitors corresponding to a fraction of the electron charge, which in principles enables probing single biomolecules electrically. In this context, the idea of engineering nanopores in ultra-thin solid-state membranes to mimic the operation of biological ion channels in living cells has emerged as a new way to investigate biological processes with semiconductor nanotechnology. Indeed, the versatility of semiconductor materials in terms of conduction polarity by selective n- or p-doping, as well as their ability to tailor space charge at the surface provide not only electrical detection sensitivity for biological objects, but also new means to shape the electrostatic landscape close to the membrane. Therefore the potential of semiconductor nanostructures to sense, read and manipulate biomolecules electronically opens up new scientific and technological avenues in traditional life science disciplines such as genomics, proteomics, etc.