title: Single Molecules Trapped by Dynamic Inhomogeneous Temperature Fields.
abstract: We demonstrate a single molecule trapping concept that modulates the actual driving force of Brownian motion--the temperature. By spatially and temporally varying the temperature at a plasmonic nanostructure, thermodiffusive drifts are induced that are used to trap single nano-objects. A feedback controlled switching of local temperature fields allows us to confine the motion of a single DNA molecule for minutes and tailoring complex effective trapping potentials. This new type of thermophoretic microbeaker even provides control over a well-defined number of single molecules and is scalable to large arrays of trapping structures.
authors.affiliation: †Molecular Nanophotonics Group, Department and Earth Science, Universität Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: †Molecular Nanophotonics Group, Department and Earth Science, Universität Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Bregulla
authors.affiliation: ‡BioNanotechnology and Structure Formation Group, Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Chair of Physical Chemistry, Measurement and Sensor Technology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.affiliation: ‡BioNanotechnology and Structure Formation Group, Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Chair of Physical Chemistry, Measurement and Sensor Technology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.|§Kurt-Schwabe-Institut für Mess- und Sensortechnik e.V. Meinsberg, 04736 Waldheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mertig
authors.affiliation: †Molecular Nanophotonics Group, Department and Earth Science, Universität Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cichos
keywords: Brownian motion; Plasmonics; feedback; nanofluidics; thermophoresis; trapping