Event

In many biological and optically-active materials, fundamental energy and charge transfer mechanisms occur at the molecular level. Individual molecules, however, are challenging to observe directly due to their small size, rapid fluctuations and complex interactions with their environment. My research focuses on the design and application of electronic single-molecule sensors, which are miniature electrical circuits capable to capture and probe individual molecules. 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 scale. In this presentation, I will describe my work on integrating single-molecule functionalization in electronic devices, using a combination of covalent carbon 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.