Patent ID: 8716005

Claim:
A device for probing changes in a membrane by applying an in-plane transverse electric field, comprising: a flat chip base including electrically conductive walls disposed on the chip base, the conductive walls approximately perpendicular to the chip base and having a height above said chip base of not more than 10 nanometers; a containment region formed between the walls and the chip base, the containment region operative to receive the membrane such that the membrane spans the entire containment region and a plane of the membrane lays perpendicular to the sides of the conductive walls; a through hole in the chip base which opens to an enclosed well attached to the chip base and located below the through hole; a first material on top of the received membrane and a second material within the enclosed well; a voltage source configured to apply an in-plane electric field along an internal reference plane extending through the received membrane; and wherein the received membrane is selected from the group consisting of: a monolayer or bilayer comprised of amphipathic lipids, a cell membrane, a molecular bilayer, a molecular monolayer, a non-biological membrane, and combinations thereof, and the membrane is positioned by the containment region such that the internal reference plane is a transverse plane which divides the membrane into top and bottom membrane surfaces and is generally parallel to the flat chip base.