ERI: Robust and Scalable Manufacturing of Ultra-Sensitive and Selective Molecule Sensor Arrays

到目前为止，分子传感器不仅对临床诊断的各个领域产生了深远的影响，而且在医学、制药、食品和过程控制、环境监测、国防和安全等领域也得到了应用。然而，低成本和可扩展的超灵敏和选择性电子分子传感器的制造能力尚未实现。这一工程研究启动(ERI)项目将开发一种新颖且广泛适用的平台，利用高度可扩展的传感器阵列芯片上的纳米粒子组织单分子传感器，实时检测单分子级别的分子。由于其固有的“自下而上”的制造策略，这种制造方法具有高度的重复性、可扩展性和极低的成本。这种电子分子传感器阵列在短期内实际上是可以制造的，并且具有持久的长期规模路线图，因此提供了一种理想的方式，将先进制造的力量带到分子传感的广泛领域。该项目的成果将极大地影响各种具有有益经济和劳动力影响的领域，将基础性科学发现转化为有益于社会的技术，促进科学进步，促进国家繁荣，并保持美国在先进制造业中的领导地位。此外，该项目将建立一个研究和教育一体化的计划，促进科学、技术、工程和数学领域的教育和跨学科方法。该项目的目标是开发一种新的、健壮的和可扩展的超敏感和选择性电子分子传感器阵列的制造工艺，通过利用单分子电荷传输和胶体破裂方面的最新进展，以全电子格式实现对目标分子的实时和无标记检测，并与集成电路芯片上的现场部署兼容。该项目为该领域的两个关键挑战提供了解决方案。第一个是创造能够开启(即从绝缘状态到导电状态)的电子分子传感器，以响应单分子尺度的目标分子结合，可以无缝地集成在芯片上。第二种是器件规模的可扩展、低成本的电极图形制造方法，电极之间的间隙极小，从而可以产生有效的传感电流，从而获得超高的灵敏度。此外，本项目还在三个不同的长度尺度上推进了分子传感器中电荷传输的知识：单分子、单纳米颗粒和组装的分子-纳米颗粒网络。这项工作在实现向先进制造的长期努力方面具有潜在的变革性影响-将单分子集成到用于分子传感器制造的电子芯片中，以实现分子电子的最终微型化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

To date, molecule sensors not only have a profound impact on various areas in clinical diagnostics, but also find applications in medicine, pharma, food and process control, environmental monitoring, defense and security. However, a low-cost and scalable manufacturing capability for ultra-sensitive and selective electronic molecule sensors has yet to be achieved. This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) project will develop a novel and broadly applicable platform for detecting molecules at the single molecule scale in real-time, using nanoparticle organized single-molecule sensors patterned on a highly scalable sensor array chip. The manufacturing method is highly reproducible, scalable and of extremely low cost, due to its inherent “bottom-up” manufacturing strategy. Such electronic molecule sensor arrays are both practically manufacturable in the near term, and have a durable long-term scaling roadmap, thus providing an ideal way to bring the power of advanced manufacturing to the broad area of molecule sensing. The outcome of this project will greatly impact a variety of fields with beneficial economic and workforce implications, transition fundamental scientific discoveries into useful technologies that benefit society, promote scientific progress, increase national prosperity, and maintain US leadership in advanced manufacturing. In addition, this project will establish a program of integrated research and education, promoting education and interdisciplinary approaches in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.The goal of this project is to develop a novel, robust and scalable manufacturing process for ultra-sensitive and selective electronic molecule sensor arrays to enable real time and label-free detection of targe molecule in an all-electronic format compatible with field deployment on integrated circuit chips by leveraging recent advances in singe-molecule charge transport and colloidal cracking. This project offers solutions to two key challenges in the field. The first is creating electronic molecule sensors capable of switching ON (i.e., from insulating to conductive state) in response to target molecule binding at single molecule scale that can be seamlessly integrated on chips. The second is scalable and low-cost manufacturing method at device scale for electrode pattern with extremely small gap between electrodes so that it can yield effective sensing current, and therefore, ultra-high sensitivity. Moreover, this project advances knowledge of charge transport in molecule sensor over three distinct length scales: single molecule, single nanoparticle, and assembled molecule-nanoparticle network. This work has potentially transformative impact in realizing a long-term endeavor towards advanced manufacturing - integrating single molecules into electronic chips for molecule sensor manufacturing to achieve the ultimate miniaturization of molecular electronics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.