Corral Trapping
The physical and chemical properties of molecules originate from quasi-electrostatic interactions between atoms and molecules. It seems prudent, therefore, to leverage electrostatic forces to efficiently interact with molecules.

Based on this rationale, we conceived and developed a new approach for trapping and manipulating individual biomolecules and nanoparticles: corral trapping. Corral trapping utilizes electrostatic and dielectrophoretic forces to confine particles to substrate areas devoid of charge.
This technology unlocks new capabilities for the deliberate (rather than random) assembly of molecular-scale devices, detection of single-base DNA mutations at the single molecule level, and investigation of diffusion-limited biophysical phenomena over prolonged timescales.