Functionalized surfaces and methods related thereto

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9759842-B2
Application number	US-201414444793-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2014
Priority date	Nov 1, 2011
Publication date	Sep 12, 2017
Grant date	Sep 12, 2017

Abstract

The disclosed subject matter provides a nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall comprising gold. A surface of the side wall is passivated with a first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol. The bottom surface of the nanoaperture can be functionalized with at least one second molecule comprising polyethylene glycol, for example, a silane-PEG molecule. The second molecule can further include a moiety, such as biotin, which is capable of binding a target biomolecule, which in turn can bind to a biomolecule of interest for single molecule fluorescence imaging analysis. Fabrication techniques of the nanoaperture are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A zero-mode waveguide, comprising:
(a) a substrate; and
(b) a sub-wavelength nanoaperture on the substrate, the nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall,
wherein the side wall comprises gold,
wherein a surface of the side wall is passivated with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol,
wherein the at least one first functional molecule is attached to the surface of the side wall via a S—Au linkage,
wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm, and
wherein the bottom surface of the nanoaperture is functionalized with at least one second molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.

2. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the nanoaperture has a width of from about 25 to about 500 nm.

3. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the side wall has a height of from about 50 to about 500 nm.

4. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first functional molecule form a monolayer on the surface of the side wall.

5. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the first functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

6. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the second functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

7. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the moiety comprises a biotin moiety.

8. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the target biomolecule comprises streptavidin.

9. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface comprises silica, and the at least one second molecule further comprises a silane group and is attached to the bottom surface via a Si—O—Si linkage.

10. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising a layer of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium and a combination thereof disposed between the substrate and the side wall of the at least one nano-well.

11. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises silica.

12. A method for fabricating a zero-mode waveguide, comprising:
(a) forming a sub-wavelength nanoaperture on a substrate, the nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall, wherein the side wall comprises gold;
(b) passivating a surface of the side wall with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol, wherein the at least one first functional molecule comprises a thiol group, and wherein the passivating comprises reacting the thiol group with the surface of the side wall to form a S—Au bond coupling the first functional molecule with the surface of the side wall, and
wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm; and
(c) functionalizing the bottom surface of the nanoaperture with at least one second molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and having a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and having no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one second functional molecule comprises a silane group, wherein the bottom surface of the nanoaperture comprises silica, and wherein the functionalizing comprises reacting the silane group with the bottom surface to form a Si—O—Si bond coupling the second functional molecule with the bottom surface.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the moiety comprises a biotin moiety, and the target biomolecule comprises streptavidin.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the substrate is a silica substrate, and wherein the forming of the nanoaperture further comprises:
(a) applying a photoresist on the surface of the silica substrate;
(b) forming one nano-column in the photoresist by etching;
(c) depositing a thin layer of titanium on the substrate;
(d) depositing a layer of gold onto the layer of titanium; and
(e) removing the nano-column in the photoresist, thereby creating the nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall comprising gold.

16. A nanoaperture array, comprising:
(a) a substrate; and
(b) two or more nanoapertures on the substrate, where each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures has a bottom surface and a side wall,
wherein the side wall comprises gold,
wherein a surface of the side wall is passivated with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol,
wherein the at least one first functional molecule is attached to the surface of the side wall via a S—Au bond,
wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm, and
wherein the bottom surfaces of the two or more nanoapertures are functionalized with at least one second functional molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.

17. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures has a width of from about 25 to about 500 nm.

18. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the side wall has a height of from about 50 to about 500 nm.

19. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures is spaced from about 500 nm to about 5 μm to each other.

20. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the at least one first functional molecule form a monolayer on the surface of the side wall.

21. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the first functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

22. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the second functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

23. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the moiety comprises a biotin moiety.

24. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the target biomolecule is streptavidin.

25. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the bottom surfaces comprise silica, and the at least one second molecule comprises a silane group and is attached to the bottom surfaces via a Si—O—Si linkage.

26. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , further comprising a layer of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium and a combination thereof between the substrate and the side wall of each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures.

27. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the substrate comprises silica.

28. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 ,

Assignees

• Univ Columbia

Inventors

• Kinz-Thompson Colin
• Gonzalez Jr Ruben L
• Hone James C
• Palma Matteo
• Godarenko Alexander Alexeevich
• Chenet Daniel Alexandre
• Wind Samuel J

Classifications

• G02B6/107

  Subwavelength-diameter waveguides, e.g. nanowires · CPC title

• G01N33/54373 Primary

  involving physiochemical end-point determination, e.g. wave-guides, FETS, gratings · CPC title

• G02B1/12 Primary

  by surface treatment, e.g. by irradiation · CPC title

• G01N33/54393

  Improving reaction conditions or stability, e.g. by coating or irradiation of surface, by reduction of non-specific binding, by promotion of specific binding · CPC title