Marija Drndic
Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Pennsylvania
Seminar Information
When molecules are driven through 2D nanopores in solution, they can change the ion current flow through the pore, from which molecule’s physical and chemical properties can be inferred (1). DNA, proteins and other biomolecules can be analyzed in this way. Nanopores are optimal when they are thin because signal increases with decreased pore thickness, and because pores sense a smaller part of the passing molecule. Pores or vacancies in the sub-nm diameter range, can be envisioned for allowing passage of water molecules but blocking salt ions for efficient water desalination (2). Nanopores can also be integrated with nearby FETs to sense both the ionic and electronic currents (3). The temporal, spatial resolution and sensitivity in nanopore experiments have been improved over the last few years thanks to advanced materials, device designs and electronics.
Marija Drndic is the Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor in the Depart- ment of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her MPhil from Cambridge University, AB, AM and PhD from Harvard University, all in Physics, and was a Pappalardo Fellow at MIT, before joining Penn in 2003. Her work on cold atom manipulation, and nanocrystal electronics was recognized by the Presidential Young Investigator Award, the Alfred Sloan Fellowship, the DARPA Young Faculty Award, the ONR Young Investigator, and the NSF Career Award. In 2013 she was named the APS Fellow “for development of novel nanofabrication methods for graphene nanoelectronics and fast biomolecular analysis in solution”. She also received several teaching awards, including the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Award for Distinguished Teaching. Drndic lab focuses on nanoscale structures in the areas of experimental condensed matter physics, nanoscience and nanotechnology. The group is known for their studies of fundamental physical properties of low-dimensional and small-scale structures and the development of their device applications.