English

lambda DNA through a plasmonic nanopore What can be detected by means of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering?

Applied Physics 2020-09-30 v1

Abstract

Engineered electromagnetic fields in plasmonic nanopores enable enhanced optical detection and their use in single molecule sequencing. Here, a plasmonic nanopore prepared in a thick nanoporous film is used to investigate the interaction between the metal and a long-chain double strand DNA molecule. We discuss how the matrix of nanoporous metal can interact with the molecule thanks to: i) transient aspecific interactions between the porous surface and DNA and ii) optical forces exerted by the localized field in a metallic nanostructure. A duration of interaction up to tens of milliseconds enables to collect high signal-to-noise Raman vibrations allowing an easy label-free reading of information from the DNA molecule. Moreover, in order to further increase the event of detection rate, we tested a polymeric porous hydrogel placed beneath the solid-state membrane. This approach enables a slowdown of the molecule diffusion, thus increasing the number of detected interactions by a factor of about 20.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2004.00950,
  title  = {lambda DNA through a plasmonic nanopore What can be detected by means of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering?},
  author = {Aliaksandr Hubarevich and Jian-An Huang and Giorgia Giovannini and Andrea Schirato and Yingqi Zhao and Nicolò Maccaferri and Francesco De Angelis and Alessandro Alabastri and Denis Garoli},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.00950},
  year   = {2020}
}