Ultrafast Optoelectronic Nanoscopy of Biological and Optoelectronic Systems

现代纳米技术面临的最大挑战之一是具有高空间和时间分辨率表征单个分子和分子组合的能力。拥有这些能力的技术将在下一代分子电子学中有广泛的应用，并将有助于解决现有的主要医疗保健挑战，从早期生物标志物检测到蛋白质测序。在过去的十年中，出现了各种各样的新方法，试图将超快光学工具与电子传感器结合起来。先进的专业技术为我们提供了一个独特的机会，可以开始一种全新的实验研究——解决单个分子的问题，并在所有相关的时间尺度上解决它们的动力学问题，从ps到ms甚至更高。在提议的项目中，我们的目标是将超快光谱和单分子隧道探测领域的前沿发展结合起来。我们将开发一个新的实验平台，用于分子尺度物体的表征，利用纳米级电探针与超快光学方法相结合。这种结合将产生一种强大而通用的新技术，超快光电纳米技术（UON）。UON在克服扫描探针方法的局限性和获取分子系统实时演化方面的潜力将通过将其应用于生物大分子和塑料半导体器件而得到证明。

One of the greatest challenges in modern nanotechnology is the ability to characterise individual molecules and molecular assemblies with high spatial and temporal resolution. A technology possessing these capabilities will have a broad range of applications in next-generation molecular electronics, and will help to solve major existing healthcare challenges, from early-stage biomarker detection to protein sequencing.In the last decade, a variety of new methods emerged that tried to combine ultrafast optical tools with electronic sensors. The developed expertise brings us a unique opportunity to start a completely new type of experimental research - addressing individulal molecules and resolving their dynamics on all relevant timescales, from ps to ms and beyond.In the proposed project, we aim to bring together cutting-edge developments in the fields of ultrafast spectroscopy and single-molecule tunnelling detection. We will develop a new experimental platform for the characterisation of molecular-scale objects, utilising nanodimensional electrical probes in concert with ultrafast optical methods. This combination will result in a robust and versatile new technique, Ultrafast Optoelectronic Nanoscopy (UON). UON's potential to overcome the limitations of scanning probe methods and to access the real-time evolution of molecular systems will be demonstrated by applying it to biological macromolecules and plastic semiconductor devices.