Functionalized surfaces and methods related thereto

1. A zero-mode waveguide, comprising:

(a) a substrate; and

(b) a sub-wavelength nanoaperture on the substrate, the nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall,

wherein the side wall comprises gold,

wherein a surface of the side wall is passivated with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol,

wherein the at least one first functional molecule is attached to the surface of the side wall via a S—Au linkage,

wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm, and

wherein the bottom surface of the nanoaperture is functionalized with at least one second molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.

2. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the nanoaperture has a width of from about 25 to about 500 nm.

3. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the side wall has a height of from about 50 to about 500 nm.

4. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first functional molecule form a monolayer on the surface of the side wall.

5. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the first functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

6. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the second functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

7. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the moiety comprises a biotin moiety.

8. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the target biomolecule comprises streptavidin.

9. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface comprises silica, and the at least one second molecule further comprises a silane group and is attached to the bottom surface via a Si—O—Si linkage.

10. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , further comprising a layer of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium and a combination thereof disposed between the substrate and the side wall of the at least one nano-well.

11. The zero-mode waveguide of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises silica.

12. A method for fabricating a zero-mode waveguide, comprising:

(a) forming a sub-wavelength nanoaperture on a substrate, the nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall, wherein the side wall comprises gold;

(b) passivating a surface of the side wall with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol, wherein the at least one first functional molecule comprises a thiol group, and wherein the passivating comprises reacting the thiol group with the surface of the side wall to form a S—Au bond coupling the first functional molecule with the surface of the side wall, and

wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm; and

(c) functionalizing the bottom surface of the nanoaperture with at least one second molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and having a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and having no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one second functional molecule comprises a silane group, wherein the bottom surface of the nanoaperture comprises silica, and wherein the functionalizing comprises reacting the silane group with the bottom surface to form a Si—O—Si bond coupling the second functional molecule with the bottom surface.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the moiety comprises a biotin moiety, and the target biomolecule comprises streptavidin.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the substrate is a silica substrate, and wherein the forming of the nanoaperture further comprises:

(a) applying a photoresist on the surface of the silica substrate;

(b) forming one nano-column in the photoresist by etching;

(c) depositing a thin layer of titanium on the substrate;

(d) depositing a layer of gold onto the layer of titanium; and

(e) removing the nano-column in the photoresist, thereby creating the nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall comprising gold.

16. A nanoaperture array, comprising:

(a) a substrate; and

(b) two or more nanoapertures on the substrate, where each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures has a bottom surface and a side wall,

wherein the side wall comprises gold,

wherein a surface of the side wall is passivated with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol,

wherein the at least one first functional molecule is attached to the surface of the side wall via a S—Au bond,

wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm, and

wherein the bottom surfaces of the two or more nanoapertures are functionalized with at least one second functional molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.

17. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures has a width of from about 25 to about 500 nm.

18. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the side wall has a height of from about 50 to about 500 nm.

19. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures is spaced from about 500 nm to about 5 μm to each other.

20. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the at least one first functional molecule form a monolayer on the surface of the side wall.

21. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the first functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

22. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the polyethylene glycol of the second functional molecule comprises from about 1 to about 200 ethylene oxide units.

23. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the moiety comprises a biotin moiety.

24. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the target biomolecule is streptavidin.

25. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the bottom surfaces comprise silica, and the at least one second molecule comprises a silane group and is attached to the bottom surfaces via a Si—O—Si linkage.

26. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , further comprising a layer of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, chromium and a combination thereof between the substrate and the side wall of each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures.

27. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the substrate comprises silica.

28. The nanoaperture array of claim 16 , wherein the at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule and the at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule are present in the mixture at a ratio of about 1:100 to about 1:10,000.

29. A method for fabricating a nanoaperture array, comprising:

(a) forming two or more nanoapertures on a substrate, each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures has a bottom surface and a side wall, wherein the side wall comprises gold;

(b) passivating a surface of the side wall with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol, wherein the at least one first functional molecule comprises a thiol group, and wherein the passivating comprises reacting the thiol group with the surface of the side wall to form a S—Au bond coupling the first functional molecule with the surface of the side wall,

wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm; and

(c) functionalizing the bottom surfaces of the two or more nanoapertures with at least one second functional molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and having a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and having no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the at least one second functional molecule comprises a silane group, wherein the bottom surfaces of the two or more nanoapertures comprise silica, and wherein the functionalizing comprises reacting the silane end group with the bottom surface to form a Si—O—Si bond coupling the second functional molecule with the bottom surface.

31. The method of claim 29 , wherein the moiety comprises a biotin moiety, and the target biomolecule is streptavidin.

32. The method of claim 29 , wherein the substrate is a silica substrate, wherein the forming two or more nanoapertures further comprises:

(a) applying a photoresist on the surface of the silica substrate;

(b) forming two or more cylindrical columns in the photoresist by etching;

(c) depositing a thin layer of titanium on the substrate;

(d) depositing a layer of gold onto the layer of titanium; and

(e) removing two or more cylindrical columns in the photoresist, thereby creating the two or more nanoapertures having a bottom surface and a side wall comprising gold.

33. A microfluidic device, comprising:

(a) a support material;

(b) one or more nanoaperture arrays on the support, wherein the one or more nanoaperture arrays comprises:

(i) a substrate; and

(ii) two or more nanoapertures on the substrate, each nanoaperture of the two or more nanoapertures has a bottom surface and a side wall,

wherein the side wall comprises gold,

wherein a surface of the side wall is passivated with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol, and

wherein the at least one first functional molecule is attached to the surface of the side wall via a S—Au linkage;

wherein the nanoaperture has a cross dimension less than a wavelength of incident light used for the nanoaperture divided by 1.7 and the wavelength of incident light is between about 10 nm to about 2000 nm, and

wherein the bottom surfaces of the two or more nanoapertures are functionalized with at least one second functional molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule;

(c) one or more inlet ports coupled to the one or more nanoaperture arrays; and

(d) one or more outlet ports coupled to the one or more nanoaperture arrays.

34. A zero-mode waveguide, comprising:

(a) a substrate; and

(b) a sub-wavelength nanoaperture on the substrate, the nanoaperture having a bottom surface and a side wall,

wherein the side wall comprises gold,

wherein a surface of the side wall is passivated with at least one first functional molecule comprising polyethylene glycol,

wherein the at least one first functional molecule is attached to the surface of the side wall via a S—Au linkage,

wherein the nanoaperture confines a wavelength of incident light to an about 0 nm to 50 nm bottom region of the nanoaperture and the height of the side wall is greater than 50 nm, and

wherein the bottom surface of the nanoaperture is functionalized with at least one second molecule comprising a mixture of (1) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and a moiety adapted for binding with a target biomolecule, and (2) at least one molecule comprising polyethylene glycol and no moiety adapted for binding with the target biomolecule.