Many efforts have been made to control the speed with which molecules pass through a small orifice. This could be useful for new approaches to DNA sequencing, new sensors, and digital computing based on hybrid electronic/molecular transistors. Current designs, however, are complex and have important limitations, such as limited ability to control...

Nanopores are orifices of nanoscale diameter that connect two fluid reservoirs. At these dimensions, even a single molecule passing through the nanopore generates a detectable change in the flow of ionic current through the pore. As a result, nanopores can function as nanoscale Coulter counters, sensory devices that measure the effective change...

A variety of medical ailments can be characterized by the presence of specific nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids that are generated during the course of the ailment. Multiplexed and sensitive detection of these molecules is of great importance in the medical diagnostics field. Current technologies designed to detect biological events coded by...

There has been a recent surge of interest in molecular electronics and organic electronic materials. This is demonstrated by potentially useful electronic devices. Examples of such devices are programmable logic elements, and molecules with negative differential resistance. Despite this progress there are certain fundamental questions which remain...