Associate 2018-19
Brian Cunningham
Electrical & Computer Engineering and Bioengineering
Digital resolution biosensing, disease diagnostics, and DNA sequencing using dielectric nanoantenna-microcavity hybrid
The goal of Professor Cunningham’s project is to explore new nanostructures that can enhance the interaction between light and biological materials with the goal of achieving ultrasensitive biosensors with single-molecule detection resolution, and even the ability to sense specific regions within a single biomolecule. The approach will utilize novel configurations for “nano-antennas” comprised of nonconducting dielectric materials that can focus electromagnetic energy into nanometer-scale volumes without heating the molecules being observed. Applications for this work include high sensitivity cancer diagnostics and rapid all-optical genome sequencing.