NANOFLUIDIC DEVICES WITH INTEGRATED COMPONENTS FOR THE CONTROLLED CAPTURE, TRAPPING, AND TRANSPORT OF MACROMOLECULES AND RELATED METHODS OF ANALYSIS
FIG2B is an alternate embodiment of a nanofluidic analysis device which includes integrated transverse electrodes positioned next to the transport nanochannel according to embodiments of the present invention  FIG1 is a schematic illustration of a device with wide, shallow nanofluidic channels positioned proximate a transport nanochannel according to embodiments of the present invention
FIG2B illustrates a differently configured device 10 having similar function but with the transverse nanochannels replaced by transverse electrodes 51, 52 that abut the transport channel 20. The electrodes 51, 52 can be integrated into the substrate of the device or attached to the substrate of the device adjacent the transport channel 20. The transverse electrodes can have a length L that is about 10 µm to about 5 mm or up to about 2 cm long and/or otherwise configured to provide suitable voltages, typically between about 1-20 V. Devices 10 that use integrated electrodes 51, 52 may exhibit limited lifetimes due to electrode fouling/degradation. This may be reduced or minimized by using electrode coatings or using appropriate anti-fouling or fouling resistant electrode material.  The shallow channel segments 30s (FIG1, 2A, 3 and 5) can be low ionic resistance channels that connect wide, deeper nanofluidic channels to the transport nanochannels. In some particular embodiments, the fluid transport nanochannels 20 (FIG1) can be defined as conduits having lengths substantially commensurate with, or exceeding, the analyte's contour length. If the nanochannel's width and depth are smaller than the radius of gyration of the macromolecule, then confinement of the molecule in the nanochannel necessarily results in molecular extension. The molecule's extended configuration will include a string of non-penetrating blobs (e.g., agglomerations) if the nanochannel width and depth are greater than the persistence length of the polymer (∼50 nm for double-stranded DNA). Alternately, if the nanochannel critical dimensions are smaller than the persistence length, the molecule, unable to fold back on itself, can assume a reflecting rod conformation. In either case, the extension of a macromolecule along the length of a nanochannel facilitates single molecule characterizations. Specifically, the confinement of DNA in nanochannels has proven useful for sizing, mapping, separations, and epigenetic analysis. By way of simple illustration, one example of a device 10 is shown in FIG1. In this embodiment, the device 10 includes transverse nanofluidic elements 30 that interface to the transport nanochannel 20 through shallow nanochannels 30s. The transport nanochannel 20 has a segment 20s1 on one side of the cross channel and another segment 20s2 on the other side. As noted above, each side of the channel 301, 302 can have these shallow segments 30s with depths that are smaller than the analyte macromolecules' hydrodynamic sizes and the depth of the transport nanochannel. This ensures that the macromolecules will not migrate through the transverse channels 30 under appropriate operating conditions but will remain in the transport nanochannel 20. The shallow segments 30s can have a length of about 50 nm to about 10 µm or longer. The shallow segments 30s for each side 301, 302, of the respective nanochannel 30 can have the same depth and/or length or a different depth and/or length.
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['1. A device having at least one fluid transport nanochannel and two transverse integrated electrodes abutting opposing sides of the at least one fluid transport nanochannel at an intersection with the transport nanochannel that resides a distance between opposing first and second end portions of the at least one transport channel to define a first segment and second segment of the transport nanochannel wherein, in operation, the first and second segments have significantly different field strengths.', '6. The system of any of Claims 3-5, wherein the device comprises a plurality of parallel fluid transport nanochannels that cooperate with a respective intersection.']