• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.spc8
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• pp.2941-2948
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• 2011

A nanogap formed by a metal nanoparticle and a flat metal substrate is one kind of "hot site" for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The characteristics of a typical nanogap formed by a planar Au and either an Au and Ag nanoparticle have been well studied using 4-aminobenzenethiol (4-ABT) as a probe. 4-ABT is, however, an unusual molecule in the sense that its SERS spectral feature is dependent not only on the kinds of SERS substrates but also on the measurement conditions; thus further characterization is required using other adsorbate molecules such as 1,4-phenylenediisocyanide (1,4-PDI). In fact, no Raman signal was observable when 1,4-PDI was selfassembled on a flat Au substrate, but a distinct spectrum was obtained when 60 nm-sized Au or Ag nanoparticles were adsorbed on the pendent -NC groups of 1,4-PDI. This is definitely due to the electromagnetic coupling between the localized surface plasmon of Au or Ag nanoparticle with the surface plasmon polariton of the planar Au substrate, allowing an intense electric field to be induced in the gap between them. A higher Raman signal was observed when Ag nanoparticles were attached to 1,4-PDI, irrespective of the excitation wavelength, and especially the highest Raman signal was measured at the 632.8 nm excitation (with the enhancement factor on the order of ${\sim}10^3$), followed by the excitation at 568 and 514.5 nm, in agreement with the finite-difference timedomain calculation. From a separate potential-dependent SERS study, the voltage applied to the planar Au appeared to be transmitted without loss to the Au or Ag nanoparticles, and from the study of the effect of volatile organics, the voltage transmission from Au or Ag nanoparticles to the planar Au also appeared as equally probable to that from the planar Au to the Au or Ag nanoparticles in a nanogap electrode. The response of the Au-Ag nanogap to the external stimuli was, however, not the same as that of the Au-Au nanogap.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.268.2-268.2
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• 2013

Nanogap interdigitated electrodes (NIDEs) can serve as an alternative platform for the biomolecular detection [1]. In this work, the NIDEs were adopted in a simple and sensitive detection of Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA). The NIDEs were fabricated by the combination of photo and chemical lithography. Photolithographically-defined initial gap of about 200 nm was narrowed down to a few tens of nanometers by surface-initiated growth of the initial electrodes (chemical lithography) [2]. Bare silicon oxide surface between the electrodes was chemically modified to immobilize capturing antibodies and, after exposure to the samples, the device was immersed in a solution containing the probe-antibody-conjugated Au nanoparticles (Au NPs). The conductance change accompanied with the Au NP immobilization was interpreted as the existence of PspA. Detection limit of the measurements and further improvement of the detection efficiency were discussed with the results from I-V analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.419-419
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• 2014

Interdigitated nanogap device (IND) is an attractive tool for biomolecular detection due to its huge on-off signal ratio, great tolerance to the variation in biochemical environment, and relatively simple implementation processes. Here, we report on the IND-based detection of Influneza A virus by sandwich immunoassay. The INEs were fabricated by photo lithography followed by the in-house chemical lithographic technique for the narrowing the initial gap distance. The surface of the silicon oxide between the two gold electrodes was chemically modified to immobilize primary antibodies for the immuno-specific interaction with the influenza A virus antigen. After immersing the functionalized-IND into the sample solution containing the influenza A virus, the device was exposed to the secondary antibody conjugated Au nanoparticles (Au NPs). The INDs showed a huge jump in the electric conductance when the sample solution contained the influenza A virus of the concentration as low as 10 ng/mL. We hope that this IND-based sensing can be applied to the development of simple and reliable diagnostic means of influenza viruses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.268.1-268.1
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• 2013

Immobilization of conducting nanoparticles on a nanogap comprising two electrodes spaced at a distance comparable to the particle size can be used as a simple and sensitive method of detecting the particles. In this work, we have examined the performance of the nanogap devices in the measurement of metallic nanoparticles, particularly gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Detection of pM-level Au NPs in an aqueous suspension was quite straightforward irrespective of the existence of non-conducting materials. Speed of detection or the time necessary for the completion of the measurement, however, was strongly dependent upon the immobilization process. Active trapping process was found to be much more efficient and also effective in the detection of nanoparticles than its passive counterpart.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2022

Within the framework of the density functional theory combined with the method of non-equilibrium Green's functions (DFT + NEGF), the features of electron transport in fullerene nanojunctions, which are «core-shell» nanoobjects made of a combination of fullerenes of different diameters C₂₀, C₈₀, C₁₈₀, placed between gold electrodes (in a nanogap), are studied. Their transmission spectra, the density of state, current-voltage characteristics and differential conductivity are determined. It was shown that in the energy range of -0.45-0.45 eV in the transmission spectrum of the "Au-C₁₈₀-Au" nanojunction appears a HOMO-LUMO gap with a width of 0.9 eV; when small-sized fullerenes C₂₀, C₈₀ are intercalation into the cavity C₁₈₀ the gap disappears, and a series of resonant structures are observed on their spectra. It has been established that distinct Coulomb steps appear on the current-voltage characteristics of the "Au-C₁₈₀-Au" nanojunction, but on the current-voltage characteristics "Au-C₈₀@C₁₈₀-Au", "Au-(C₂₀@C₈₀)@C₁₈₀-Au" these step structures are blurred due to a decrease in Coulomb energy. An increase in the number of Coulomb features on the dI/dV spectra of core-shell fullerene nanojunctions was revealed in comparison with nanojunctions based on fullerene C₆₀, which makes it possible to create high-speed single-electron devices on their basis. Models of single-electron transistors (SET) based on fullerene nanojunctions "Au-C₁₈₀-Au", "Au-C₈₀@C₁₈₀-Au" and "Au-(C₂₀@C₈₀)@C₁₈₀-Au" are considered. Their charge stability diagrams are analyzed and it is shown that SET based on C₈₀@C₁₈₀-, (C₂₀@C₈₀)@C₁₈₀- nanojunctions is output from the Coulomb blockade mode with the lowest drain-to-source voltage.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.351-356
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• 2009

We present a simple semiconductor process to fabricate nanogap arrays for application in molecular electronics and nano-bio electronics using a combination of freestanding silicon nanowires and angle evaporation. The gap distance is modulated using the height of the silicon dioxide, the width of the Si nanowires, and the evaporation angle. In addition, we fabricate and apply the nanogap arrays in single-electron transistors using DNA-linked Au nanoparticles for the detection of DNA hybridization.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.540-540
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• 2012

Selective detection of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of Cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19) was carried out by the PNA chips which were electrically-interfaced with interdigitated nanogap electrodes (INEs). The INEs whose average gap distance and effective gap length were about ~70 nm and ${\sim}140{\mu}m$, respectively, were prepared by the combination of the photo lithography and the surface-catalyzed chemical deposition, without using the e-beam lithography which is almost inevitable in the conventional lab-scale fabrication of the INEs. Four different types of target DNAs were successfully detected and discriminated by the INE-based PNA chips.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.197-200
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• 2019

We report on electrochemical signal amplification using gap electrodes based on the redox cycling between gap electrodes. The distance between electrodes was controlled from $2{\mu}m$ to a few hundreds of nanometer by chemical deposition of reduced Au ion on the pre-defined electrodes. Enhanced redox current of ferri/ferrocyanide was obtained by redox cycling between the two working electrodes. The faradaic current is amplified about a thousand times in this redox system. Since the signal amplification is due to the shortened diffusion length between the two electrodes, the narrower the nanogap was, the better detection limit, calibration sensitivity, and dynamic range. The experimental results were discussed on the basis of the cyclic voltammetry (CV), atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements.