title: Carbon nanotubes as electrodes for dielectrophoresis of DNA.
abstract: Dielectrophoresis can potentially be used as an efficient trapping tool in the fabrication of molecular devices. For nanoscale objects, however, the Brownian motion poses a challenge. We show that the use of carbon nanotube electrodes makes it possible to apply relatively low trapping voltages and still achieve high enough field gradients for trapping nanoscale objects, e.g., single molecules. We compare the efficiency and other characteristics of dielectrophoresis between carbon nanotube electrodes and lithographically fabricated metallic electrodes, in the case of trapping nanoscale DNA molecules. The results are analyzed using finite element method simulations and reveal information about the frequency-dependent polarizability of DNA.
authors.affiliation: Nanoscience Center, Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
authors.forename: Sampo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tuukkanen
authors.forename: J Jussi
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Toppari
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuzyk
authors.forename: Lasse
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hirviniemi
authors.forename: Vesa P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Hytönen
authors.forename: Teemu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ihalainen
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Törmä
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004586:Electrophoresis; D008839:Microelectrodes; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D004247:DNA