On the use of laser heating to detail the physical mechanisms of nanopore sensing

Abstract

Measurement of the physical properties of molecules as they transit a nanopore sensor provides a route for the detailed understanding of membrane transport processes and offers prescriptive solutions for designing biosensors with molecular selectivity. Fundamental to the selective operation of a nanopore sensor are the unique molecular interactions that dictate kinetic barriers for capture and escape from the nanopore cavity. Efforts to understand the energetic contributions of direct molecular interactions (enthalpy), and polymer dynamics (entropy) allow us to disentangle the relative energetic contributions that lead to chemical selectivity in a nanopore sensor.