title: Stability of an aqueous quadrupole micro-trap.
abstract: The recently demonstrated functionality of an aqueous quadrupole micro- or nano-trap opens a new avenue for applications of Paul traps, like confinement of a charged biomolecule which requires a water environment for its chemical stability. Besides the strong viscosity forces, the motion of a charged particle in the aqueous trap is subject to dielectrophoretic and electrophoretic forces. In this study, we describe the general conditions for stability of a charged particle in an aqueous quadrupole trap. We find that for typical micro-trap parameters, the effects of both dielectrophoresis and electrophoresis significantly influence the trap stability. In particular, an aqueous quadrupole trap could play the role of a synthetic virtual nanopore for the third generation of DNA sequencing technology.
authors.affiliation: Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
authors.forename: Jae Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Predrag S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Krstić
mesh_terms: D004586:Electrophoresis / Q000379:methods*; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000379:methods*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014867:Water