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Integrated sensitive on-chip ion field effect transistors based on wrinkled ingaas nanomembranes
Self-organized wrinkling of pre-strained nanomembranes into nanochannels is used to fabricate a fully integrated nanofluidic device for the development of ion field effect transistors (IFETs). Constrained by the structure and shape of the membrane, the deterministic wrinkling process leads to a versatile variation of channel types such as straight two-way channels, three-way branched channels, or even four-way intersection channels. The fabrication of straight channels is well controllable and offers the opportunity to integrate multiple IFET devices into a single chip. Thus, several IFETs are fabricated on a single chip using a III-V semiconductor substrate to control the ion separation and to measure the ion current of a diluted potassium chloride electrolyte solution.
Rolled-up functionalized nanomembranes as three-dimensional cavities for single cell studies
We use micropatterning and strain engineering to encapsulate single living mammalian cells into transparent tubular architectures consisting of three-dimensional (3D) rolled-up nanomembranes. By using optical microscopy, we demonstrate that these structures are suitable for the scrutiny of cellular dynamics within confined 3D-microenvironments. We show that spatial confinement of mitotic mammalian cells inside tubular architectures can perturb metaphase plate formation, delay mitotic progression, and cause chromosomal instability in both a transformed and nontransformed human cell line. These findings could provide important clues into how spatial constraints dictate cellular behavior and function.