Novel nanopore/nanoelectrode architectures for biomolecular analysis

The main focus of this work is the development of a solid‐state nanopore detector with embedded tunnelling electrodes capable of label‐free detection and ultimately sequencing of individual DNA molecules. In such a device a pair of tunnelling electrodes is precisely aligned to the nanopore opening. DNA molecules are electrophoretically driven through the nanopore and ‘read’ at the tunnelling junction. In this thesis a technique based on electron beam induced deposition (EBID) is being explored and developed for the precise fabrication of tunnelling electrodes that are aligned to a nanopore. Functional tunnelling nanopore devices were characterized by tunnelling spectroscopy in different solvents and then used in proof‐of‐principle experiments demonstrating, for the first time, simultaneous tunnelling and ionic current detection of DNA molecules in a nanopore platform. This represents an important step towards the task of achieving label‐free tunnelling nanopore technology for rapid DNA detection.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo