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Lab

Research Group

The methods, laboratories and partners behind my nanopore research at ANU.

01Recognition

A journal cover and the press that followed

Cover of Analytical Chemistry, volume 95, issue 13, 4 April 2023: DNA passing through a pore in a thin membrane between two electrodes. Cover art by Mia Kluth.
Fig. 4Cover of Analytical Chemistry 95(13), 4 April 2023, featuring the ultra-thin silicon nitride membrane study.Journal cover artwork, 2023, doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.3c00023.Cover image designed by Mia Kluth; © American Chemical Society.

Journal cover

Analytical Chemistry

American Chemical Society · vol. 95, issue 13 · 4 Apr 2023

My first-author study of ultra-thin silicon nitride membranes, made to stay stable through long nanopore recordings, was selected for the cover of Analytical Chemistry.

Read the paperThe result, approach and limitations

100+

News stories

News stories on the 2023 protein-identification study, including ABC and 2GB radio and outlets in the US, UK and China.

Source: ANU media report, cited in CV (Nov 2025). As of Nov 2025.

Selected outlets

  • ABC News
  • 2GB Radio
  • Cosmos Magazine
  • Science Daily
All media coverage

02Approach

From making the pore to reading its signal

The group combines four methods: fabrication, high-bandwidth measurement, structural characterisation and machine-learning analysis.

01

Nanofabrication

Fabrication techniques including ion beam irradiation, controlled breakdown, and atomic layer deposition for making ultra-thin nanopore membranes.

  • Swift heavy ion irradiation at GSI
  • Chemical track etching
  • Controlled dielectric breakdown
  • ALD coating and functionalization
02

High-bandwidth sensing

Electrical measurements that capture single-molecule translocation events with microsecond time resolution.

  • 10 MHz acquisition rates
  • Custom FPGA signal processing
  • Low-noise amplification
  • Temperature-controlled environment
03

Structural characterisation

Imaging and scattering techniques that measure nanopore geometry and membrane properties at the nanometre scale.

  • Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)
  • Transmission electron microscopy
  • Atomic force microscopy
  • Spectroscopic ellipsometry
04

Machine learning analytics

Algorithms for automated event detection, classification, and biomarker identification from nanopore signals.

  • Deep neural networks
  • Clustering algorithms (K-means, DBSCAN)
  • Feature extraction pipelines
  • GPU-accelerated processing

03Facilities

Laboratories and computing

I co-manage three laboratories at the ANU Research School of Physics; machine-learning work runs on GPU and cloud resources.

  1. 01

    Biosensing Laboratory

    High-bandwidth nanopore sensing systems with up to 10 MHz acquisition, supporting single-molecule protein and nucleic acid analysis.

  2. 02

    Solid State Nanopore Lab

    Complete nanopore fabrication suite including controlled breakdown systems and track-etch technology for membrane production.

  3. 03

    Thin Film Deposition Lab

    Atomic layer deposition and characterization facilities for advanced membrane functionalization and coating development.

  4. 04

    Computing Infrastructure

    GPU hardware from an NVIDIA grant (2022) and Google Cloud research credits for model development and large-scale data analysis.

04Collaborations

Partners and collaborators

Each partner is listed with the kind of relationship and, where there is one, the current status.

Research collaboration03

  • The Ohio State University

    tRNA biochemistry (Nucleic Acids Research, 2026).

  • GSI Helmholtz Centre, Darmstadt

    Swift heavy-ion irradiation and ion-track technology.

  • John Curtin School of Medical Research (ANU)

    Biomedical applications of nanopore sensing.

Industry partner03

  • Thaum Pty Ltd

    Nanopore sensing and machine learning for Alzheimer's biomarker detection.

    Status AEA Ignite grant awarded (2025)

  • Rio Tinto

    Heavy-metal ion sensing with solid-state nanopores.

    Status Proposal submitted, AEA Ignite round 2

  • New Frontier Technologies

    Thin coatings protecting carbon composites from radiation and atomic oxygen in space.

Government partner01

  • ACT Office of Water, Icon Water and ACT Health

    Metal release into water after bushfires and floods.

    Status Proposal submitted, Disaster Ready Fund round 3

Facility access01

  • Australian Synchrotron (ANSTO)

    Small-angle X-ray scattering beamtime, 13 successful proposals (2018–2025).

Compute support02

  • NVIDIA

    GPU hardware grant for machine-learning model development (2022).

  • Google

    Cloud research credits for data-analysis pipelines (2022).

05Collaborate

Working together

If you have a question that single-molecule measurement could answer, write to me.

Propose a collaborationView publications