Resurgence of Electron Quantum Tunneling Sensors

Abstract

Quantum tunneling sensors are typically ultra-sensitive devices that have been specifically designed to convert a stimulus into an electronic signal using the wondrous principles of quantum mechanical tunneling. In the early 1990s, William Kaiser developed one of the first micromachined quantum tunneling sensors as part of his work with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Since then, there have been scattered attempts at utilizing this phenomenon for the development of a variety of physical and chemical sensors. Although these devices demonstrate unique characteristics, such as high sensitivity, the principle of quantum tunneling often acts as a double-edged sword and is responsible for certain drawbacks of this sensor family. In this review, we briefly explain the underlying working principles of quantum tunneling and how they are used to design miniaturized quantum tunneling sensors. We then proceed to describe an overview of the various attempts at developing such sensors. Next, we discuss their current necessity and recent resurgence. Finally, we describe various advantages and shortcomings of these sensors and end this review with an insight into the potential of this technology and prospects.

Deep Learning-Assisted Single-Molecule Detection of Protein Post-translational Modifications with a Biological Nanopore

“…Single-molecule techniques such as electron tunneling have also achieved the detection of single PTM on peptides (i.e., phosphorylation) with high sensitivity. 5 , 8 , 9 However, the development and optimization of these methods did not account for the presence of multiple and/or neighboring PTMs. 5 One example is demonstrated in our recent work, which shows that neighboring PTMs interfere with the detection of phosphorylated α-synuclein at S129 by most pS129 antibodies.…”