METHOD TO FABRICATE A NANOCHANNEL FOR DNA SEQUENCING BASED ON NARROW TRENCH PATTERNING PROCESS

• Main Authors: CHANG, Thomas Young, WAGO, Koichi, XIAO, ShuaiGang, YANG, Xiaomin, KUO, David S
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 22.04.2021
• Subjects: APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; BEER; BIOCHEMISTRY; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS OR TEST PAPERS THEREFOR; CONDITION-RESPONSIVE CONTROL IN MICROBIOLOGICAL ORENZYMOLOGICAL PROCESSES; ENZYMOLOGY; MEASURING OR TESTING PROCESSES INVOLVING ENZYMES, NUCLEICACIDS OR MICROORGANISMS; METALLURGY; MICROBIOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; PROCESSES OF PREPARING SUCH COMPOSITIONS; SPIRITS; VINEGAR; WINE

Apparatus and methods relating to DNA sequencing are provided. In one embodiment, a DNA sequencing device includes a nanochannel having a width that is approximately 0.3 nm to approximately 20 nm. A pair of electrodes having portions exposed to the nanochannel may form a tunneling current electrode (TCE) with an electrode gap of approximately 0.1 nm to approximately 2 nm, and more particularly about 0.3 nm to about 1 nm. In one embodiment, at least one of the pair of electrodes is formed as a suspended electrode. An actuator may be associated with the suspended electrode to displace it relative to the other electrode. In various embodiments, the nanochannel and/or the electrodes may be formed using thermal reflow processes to reduce the size of such features.