Patent ID: 8691067

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling one or more charged entities linked to a polymer through a nanochannel, the apparatus comprising: a first reservoir and a second reservoir connected by the nanochannel, an array of electrodes being positioned along the nanochannel, wherein fluid fills the first reservoir, the second reservoir, and the nanochannel; and a first electrode in the first reservoir and a second electrode in the second reservoir, the first and second electrodes being configured to direct the one or more charged entities linked to the polymer into the nanochannel; wherein the array of electrodes is configured to trap the one or more charged entities in the nanochannel responsive to being controlled for trapping; wherein the array of electrodes is configured to move the one or more charged entities along the nanochannel responsive to being controlled for moving; wherein the array of electrodes is configured to move the one or more charged entities along the nanochannel one period at a time in response to shifting a voltage bias being applied to the array of electrodes; wherein the voltage bias having a polarity scheme is applied to a triplet electrode group, all at one time, in the array of electrodes to trap a single charged entity attached to the one or more charged entities in the nanochannel in which the triplet electrode group is simultaneously aligned to and corresponds to the single charged entity; and wherein the polarity scheme to trap the single charged entity includes positive and negative voltage biases applied to the triplet electrode group according to a charge of the single charged entity; wherein the triplet electrode group has a first electrode, a second electrode, and a third electrode; wherein, when the single charged entity is positively charged, the polarity scheme applied to the triplet electrode group is a positive voltage bias, a negative voltage bias, and a positive voltage bias respectively for the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode; and wherein, when the single charged entity is negatively charged, the polarity scheme applied to the triplet electrode group is a negative voltage bias, a positive voltage bias, and a negative voltage bias respectively for the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode.