A polymer-based nano-resistive pulse sensor for detection of biomolecules: fabrication and simulation

Microfluidics is a fast-growing field that has expanded into health sciences, agriculture, and others. In these areas, microfluidic devices are often used for the analysis of biological samples. Detection of biological structures as proteins and viruses is possible with microfluidic detectors. Resistive pulse sensing has been largely employed for the detection and counting of cells. In this method, the electric current through a pore is monitored while target elements cause partial and non-permanent obstruction of the pore. In recent years, advanced micro- and nanofabrication technologies have been suggested for the fabrication of nanopore-based resistive pulse sensor (nano-RPS). In this work, a tridimensional numerical model was presented to describe a nano-RPS. The validation of the model resulted in errors below 1%. The electric profile of translocation events was represented with good agreement. Lastly, fabrication defects were investigated, and a combination of open-pore current and translocation profile were suggested to serve as qualifiers for the fabrication of nanopores.