Tunable elastomeric nanochannels for separation and manipulation of long DNA molecules

Nanofluidic structures, such as nanochannels have been successfully used to confine and stretch DNA molecules, offering the opportunity of investigating on their conformational changes. Moreover, the integration of these confinement systems on lab-on-chips has shown a great potential for applications such as biomolecule sieving or single molecule manipulation. Arrays of nanochannels are fabricated on silicon substrates using a focused ion beam (FIB), replicated using polymers and soft-lithography techniques, and then sealed with a polymeric thin layer or a glass coverslip bonded using oxygen plasma. Elastomeric materials (e.g. poly(dimethylsiloxane)) are flexible and the application of small forces reversibly modulates the nanochannel cross section affecting the size of the molecules passing through it.