Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Experiment And Simulation Of Single-Molecule Recycling, Bo Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents theoretical, numerical, and experimental research into a technique for extending the observation time of a single molecule in solution, while also enabling measurement of its diffusion coefficient. A confocal microscope is used to observe the fluorescently labelled molecule in aqueous solution, which is confined within a nanochannel. By focusing a laser beam into the nanochannel and applying electrokinetic flow along the tube, a molecule passes through the laser beam and emits a burst of photons. The molecule then passes back and forth through the focus while the voltage is repeatedly reversed at a fixed delay after each …