The present invention provides the multifunctional biological and biochemical
sensor technology based on ZnO nanostructures. The ZnO nanotips serve as strong
DNA or protein molecule binding sites to enhance the immobilization. Patterned
ZnO nanotips are used to provide conductivity-based biosensors. Patterned ZnO nanotips
are also used as the gate for field-effect transistor (FET) type sensors. Patterned
ZnO nanotips are integrated with SAW or BAW based biosensors. These ZnO nanotip
based devices operate in multimodal operation combining electrical, acoustic and
optical sensing mechanisms. The multifunctional biosensors can be arrayed and combined
into one biochip, which will enhance the sensitivity and accuracy of biological
and biochemical detection due to strong immobilization and multimodal operation
capability. Such biological and biochemical sensor technology are useful in detection
of RNA-DNA, DNA-DNA, protein-protein, protein-DNA and protein-small molecules interaction.
It can be further applied for drug discovery, and for environmental monitoring
and protection.
