Defining the zerogap: cracking along the photolithographically defined Au-Cu-Au lines with sub-nanometer precision.

Cracks are formed along the photolithographically pre-determined lines with extremely high yield and repeatability, when Cu clusters are introduced between planarized Au thin films sequentially deposited on a PET substrate. These clusters act as nanometer-sized spacers preventing the formation of contiguous metallic bond between the adjacent Au layers which will render prepatterned-cracking impossible. While the effective gap width is initially zero in the optical sense from microwaves all the way to the visible, outer-bending the PET substrate allows the gap width tuning into the 100 nm range, with the stability and controllability in the ranges of 100 s and Angstrom-scale, respectively.

High-throughput single-molecule imaging system using nanofabricated trenches and fluorescent DNA-binding proteins.

DNA curtain is a high-throughput system, integrating a lipid bilayer, fluorescence imaging, and microfluidics to probe protein-DNA interactions in real-time and has provided in-depth understanding of DNA metabolism. Especially, the microfluidic platform of a DNA curtain is highly suitable for a biochip. In the DNA curtain, DNA molecules are aligned along chromium nanobarriers, which are fabricated on a slide surface, and visualized using an intercalating dye, YOYO-1.