Nano Express
Mass spectrometry based on a coupled Cooper-pair box and nanomechanical resonator system
Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control (MOE), Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:570 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-570
Published: 31 October 2011Abstract
Nanomechanical resonators (NRs) with very high frequency have a great potential for mass sensing with unprecedented sensitivity. In this study, we propose a scheme for mass sensing based on the NR capacitively coupled to a Cooper-pair box (CPB) driven by two microwave currents. The accreted mass landing on the resonator can be measured conveniently by tracking the resonance frequency shifts because of mass changes in the signal absorption spectrum. We demonstrate that frequency shifts induced by adsorption of ten 1587 bp DNA molecules can be well resolved in the absorption spectrum. Integration with the CPB enables capacitive readout of the mechanical resonance directly on the chip.
