Nanofluidic structures for single biomolecule fluorescent detection.

Fluid-filled nanofabricated cavities can be used to increase the spatial resolution of single molecule confocal microscopy based techniques by creating smaller and more uniformly illuminated probe volumes. Such structures may also be used to temporarily stretch single macromolecules, permitting the resolution of molecular details that would otherwise be beyond the capabilities of a diffraction limited system. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.