Fabrication and Characterization of Micromachined Active Probes With Polymer Membranes for Biomolecular Force Spectroscopy

Torun, Hamdi, Sarangapani, Krishna K. and Degertekin, F. Levent (2010) Fabrication and Characterization of Micromachined Active Probes With Polymer Membranes for Biomolecular Force Spectroscopy. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 19 (5). pp. 1021-1028. ISSN 1057-7157

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Abstract

A micromachined polymer membrane-based active probe has been developed for biomolecular force spectroscopy. The probe has integrated but significantly decoupled electrostatic actuation and optical interferometric force sensing capabilities. Devices have been fabricated on silicon substrates using Parylene as the membrane material. The electrostatic actuator integrated into the probe could provide > 1-μm displacement with a flat response of up to 30 kHz in fluid, a feature particularly useful in fast-pulling force spectroscopy experiments involving biomolecules. The probes were successfully employed to measure the unbinding forces between biotin and streptavidin, wherein the force noise level was <;10 pN with a 1-kHz bandwidth for an 8-N/m membrane with a 25-kHz resonance frequency in fluid. This is in agreement with the thermal noise data generated by a finite-element model that predicts further improvements with simple design changes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Atomic force microscopy, fabrication, micro-electromechanical systems, molecular biophysics
Subjects:	H600 Electronic and Electrical Engineering J400 Polymers and Textiles
Department:	Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering
Depositing User:	Paul Burns
Date Deposited:	21 Dec 2018 17:26
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2019 15:01
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/37432

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