Abstract

Plasmonic Nanopore Sensing with Multi-Frequency Burst and Continuous AC Modulation

George Alexandrakis, Professor, Bioengineering Department, University of Texas at Arlington

The use of plasmonic nanopores for single molecule detection has attracted considerable attention due to their high sensitivity and selectivity. I will present my group’s work on a phase analysis approach for characterizing the trapping of single molecules in a plasmonic nanopore using trains of multi-frequency AC bursts or continuous AC modulation. By analyzing the phase response of the plasmonic nanopore at select frequencies, we can differentiate between a test ligand, the antibody targeting this ligand, and the complexes that these ligands form, as well as observe their dynamics while inside the optical trap of the plasmonic nanopore. This work shows the feasibility of these two new approaches for rapid and accurate identification of single molecules in complex mixtures.