Nanosensor Chip Compound Nanopores Wafer Calibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current nanopipette sensors are difficult to manufacture at scale, fragile, and require individual calibration, with significant chemical and electrical degradation after repeated use, limiting their performance and reuse.
Innovation Solution
A nanosensor chip with a semiconductor substrate featuring compound nanopores (compores) functionalized with immobilized probe molecules, where an electrode structure applies an electric field across multiple nanopores, enabling reliable detection of target molecules through aggregate current changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If nanopipette sensors are used for detecting target molecules, then detection capability is achieved, but manufacturing scalability is poor and individual calibration is required
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides a single nanopipette sensor into multiple discrete nanopores (e.g., 3-9 nanopores per compore) arranged in a compound structure. Each nanopore can be independently functionalized with probe molecules, allowing parallel processing and detection. This segmentation enables mass production through wafer-scale fabrication while maintaining individual detection capabilities, resolving the contradiction between detection precision and manufacturing scalability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges multiple nanopores into a single compound nanopore (compore) structure that functions as an integrated sensing unit. By combining multiple nanopores with identical or complementary probe molecules into one compore, the system achieves both individualized detection (through each nanopore's specific binding events) and collective signal aggregation (through the compore's integrated current measurement), enabling scalable manufacturing without sacrificing detection precision.
2Measurement precision
If nanopipette sensors are used for detecting target molecules, then detection function is provided, but reliability is low due to fragility and chemical degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention incorporates redundancy by including multiple nanopores within each compore structure. If one nanopore becomes blocked, clogged, or degraded, the other nanopores in the same compore continue to function, providing a cushioning effect that maintains overall sensor reliability. This prior cushioning through redundant pathways prevents single-point failures from compromising the entire detection system.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a composite structure combining multiple nanopores, probe molecules, and supporting materials within a single compore unit. This composite architecture distributes the detection function across multiple components, reducing the impact of degradation in any single element. The composite design also allows for optimized material selection in each component to enhance chemical and mechanical stability while maintaining detection functionality.
3Measurement precision
If nanopipette sensors are used for detecting target molecules, then detection capability is achieved, but variability requires individual calibration
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses multiple nanopores per compore to provide excess detection capacity. By having more nanopores than strictly necessary for detection, the system can tolerate variations in individual nanopore performance. The aggregate signal from multiple nanopores averages out manufacturing variabilities, reducing the need for individual calibration while maintaining overall detection precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention promotes homogeneity by functionalizing multiple nanopores within each compore with identical or complementary probe molecules under uniform conditions. This homogeneous functionalization ensures that all nanopores in a compore have similar characteristics and responses, reducing variability between sensors. The compore structure itself provides a standardized platform that minimizes manufacturing variations, eliminating the need for individual calibration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The nanosensor chip provides greater reliability and accuracy, allows for efficient and cost-effective mass production, and can be calibrated for an entire wafer of chips, reducing variability and extending the sensor's lifespan.
Implementation Method 1
an electrode structure, having a shape and position relative to the compore that enables the electrode structure to apply an electric field across all of the nanopores in the compore
Implementation Method 2
the target molecules bind to the probe molecules when the electric field is applied at a specific voltage. This binding causes a detectable current change across the nanopipette sensor
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~3B
Figure 4~5B
AI summary
A nanosensor chip for detecting and/or quantifying target molecules in a liquid sample includes a semiconductor or other substrate and one or more electrode structures. The substrate has one or more compound nanopores, referred to as "compores." Each compore is an aperture formed in the substrate and comprises a plurality of nanopores. Each of the nanopores is functionalized with immobilized probe molecules for detecting the target molecules. For each compore, a corresponding electrode structure is laid out on the substrate. The electrode structure has a shape and a position relative to the compore to apply an electric field across all of the nanopores in the compore and to provide a conductive path for an aggregate current through all of the nanopores in the compore. The aggregate current changes in response to target molecules in the liquid sample binding to the probe molecules as a function of the electric field.