Fabrication and characterization of quartz nanopillars for DNA separation by size

We fabricated two different distributions of nanopillars-tilted and square distributions. There are difficulties in fabricating a chip containing these nanopillars, particularly in Ni plating, and quartz bonding. We improved the Ni plating by applying stable electric current and the reliability of the quartz bonding. In nanopillars with a square distribution, DNA showed conformational changes, and did not show any reptile motion, but moved in a straight line in contrast with its behavior in nanopillars with a tilted distribution. Nanopillars with a tilted distribution acted effectively as sieves for DNA separation by size.