title: DNA translocations through solid-state plasmonic nanopores.
abstract: Nanopores enable label-free detection and analysis of single biomolecules. Here, we investigate DNA translocations through a novel type of plasmonic nanopore based on a gold bowtie nanoantenna with a solid-state nanopore at the plasmonic hot spot. Plasmonic excitation of the nanopore is found to influence both the sensor signal (nanopore ionic conductance blockade during DNA translocation) and the process that captures DNA into the nanopore, without affecting the duration time of the translocations. Most striking is a strong plasmon-induced enhancement of the rate of DNA translocation events in lithium chloride (LiCl, already 10-fold enhancement at a few mW of laser power). This provides a means to utilize the excellent spatiotemporal resolution of DNA interrogations with nanopores in LiCl buffers, which is known to suffer from low event rates. We propose a mechanism based on plasmon-induced local heating and thermophoresis as explanation of our observations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bionanoscience, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology , Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nicoli
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Verschueren
authors.forename: Misha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Cees
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.forename: Magnus P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Jonsson
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009038:Motion; D058608:Nanopores / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006046:Gold; D004247:DNA
keywords: DNA; Nanopores; biosensing; plasmonics; single-molecule sensing; thermophoresis