Delphine Bouilly

Single-Molecule Sensors Based on Carbon Nanotube Electronics

Single-molecule electronic sensors are miniature electrical circuits small enough to capture and probe individual molecules, from simple molecular wires to complex macromolecules like nucleic acids and proteins. These devices can monitor fluctuations in molecular conformation or charge-state in real-time and over a broad range of time scales, making it a powerful technique to investigate fundamental mechanisms at the molecular level. My work focuses on achieving robust and reproducible single-molecule device functionalization using a combination of covalent carbon nanotube chemistry and nanofabrication techniques inspired from the semiconductor technology. In particular, I will present recent results in which carbon nanotube sensors are used to investigate DNA structure and properties. By linking an individual DNA segment to an electronic device, it is possible to probe mechanisms such as hybridization, folding and charge transport.