CAREER: Biomolecular Nanoelectronic Junctions

本CAREER项目的目标是通过理论建模和将液态生物聚合物与固态纳米电子器件相结合，在生物分子纳米电子学领域取得重大进展。该项目的科学部分旨在对生物聚合物的介电行为进行理论建模，并通过实验阐明两个纳米间隙电极之间空腔中dna -反离子、RNA-DNA、蛋白质-蛋白质和肌动蛋白丝-反离子的相互作用。该项目的技术组成部分侧重于精确控制用于生物传感器的10 nm以下纳米间隙电极，开发灵敏的无标签生物测定，以及集成纳米间隙电极阵列与纳米流体网络的稳健批量制造方法。该项目的教育目标是将研究有效地融入跨学科研究的教育活动和本科生和研究生的培训中：通过暑期研究训练营来完成特殊的教育推广计划，以教育初高中的女性和代表性不足的学生。总体教育目标是培养学生在定量生物科学或生物物理工程领域的高级职业生涯中，如何用健全的理论和实践实验技能进行研究。

The objective of this CAREER project is to establish a significant advancement in biomolecular nanoelectronics by theoretical modeling and interfacing liquid-state biopolymers to solid-state nanoelectronic devices. The scientific component of this project aimed on the theoretical modeling of dielectric behavior of biopolymers and elucidating experimentally interactions of DNA-counterion, RNA-DNA, protein-protein, and actin filament-counterion in the cavity between two nanogap electrodes. The technological components of this project focus on the precise control of sub10 nm nanogap electrode for biosensors, development of sensitive label free bioassays, and a robust batch fabrication method of integrated nanogap electrode arrays with nanofluidic networks. The educational goal of this project is to effectively integrate research into educational activities and the training of both undergraduate and graduate students in interdisciplinary studies: Special educational outreach program will be accomplished through summer research training camp to educate women and under-represented students in junior and senior high school. Overall educational goal is to train students how to carry out their research with sound theory and hand on laboratory skill for their advanced careers in quantitative biological sciences or biophysical engineering.