Colloque - La nanofluidique à la croisée des chemins : Nanofluidics: Exploring New Frontiers

Innovation technologique Liliane Bettencourt (2022-2023) - Lydéric Bocquet

Collège de France

Année 2022-2023

Colloque - La nanofluidique à la croisée des chemins : Nanofluidics: Exploring New Frontiers

In this talk, I will introduce a novel method based on liquid-activated quantum emission from native hBN defects for nanofluidic sensing. Liquids confined down to the atomic scale can show radically new properties. However, only indirect and ensemble measurements operate in such extreme confinement, calling for novel optical approaches enabling direct imaging at the molecular level. Using our method, we harness quantum emission originating from native defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) for molecular imaging and sensing in nanometrically confined liquids. We show that defect activation occurs through chemisorption of organic solvent molecules, revealing single-molecule dynamics at the interface through spatially correlated activation of neighboring defects. Defect emission spectra further offer a direct readout of local dielectric properties, unveiling increasing dielectric order under nanometer-scale confinement. Liquid-activated native hBN defects bridge the gap between solid-state nanophotonics and nanofluidics, opening new avenues for nanoscale sensing and optofluidics.

Liquid-activated quantum emission from native hBN defects for nanofluidic sensing

Ronceray N., You Y., Glushkov E., Lihter M., Rehl B., Chen T-H., Nam G-H., Watanabe K., Taniguchi T., Roke S., Keerthi A., Comtet J., Radha B. et Radenovic A., Liquid-activated quantum emission from native hBN defects for nanofluidic sensing, 2022.

Aleksandra Radenovic

Prof. Aleksandra Radenovic is a full professor of biological engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) She serves as the Head of the Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology and is a renowned expert in the field of single-molecule biophysics. Professor Radenovic received her Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2003, following her attainment of a Msc. in Physics from the University of Zagreb (Croatia) in 2000. The research conducted by her laboratory has received numerous prestigious grants and awards, including the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant in 2010, the SNF Backup scheme Consolidator Grant in 2015, the CCMX materials challenge award in 2016, and the Advanced ERC grant in 2020. Her research interests focus on nanofluidics and developing techniques and methodologies that utilize optical imaging, nanopore sensing, and single-molecule manipulation to study the behavior of individual biological molecules and complexes. These studies are conducted both in vitro and within living cells, providing insights into the underlying mechanisms of cellular processes.