Without the help of many co-workers this thesis would not have been possible, and I'm deeply grateful for all the help I received during these years. Especially I would like to thank my supervisors PROF. GÜNTER REISS, P.D. DR. HUBERT BRÜCKL and P.D. DR. ANDREAS HÜTTEN for their continuous support and the funding of my work. Moreover I would like to thank DR. JÖRG SCHOTTER for a great introduction to the biosensor project, practical help, fruitful discussions and proofreading of this thesis.
In particular I thank DR. PAUL-BERTRAM KAMP from the Department of Genetics at the Bielefeld University for the very productive cooperation. Without his knowledge and practical help regarding molecular biology, this work and especially the bond-force measurements would not have been possible.
Furthermore, I thank MARC SACHER and DR. JAN SCHMALHORST for fruitful discussions and AGM and Auger measurements and DR. JAN BORNEMEIER for the help with wire bonding and a lot of fun in our office. For discussions about my work and support in the laboratory I thank DR. KARSTEN ROTT, DIRK MEYNERS, DIRK BRINKMANN and ASTRIT SHOSHI. I also would like to thank the mechanical and electronic workshop for their support and competent work.
Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their everlasting support and in particular my fiancée SONJA SCHILLING for her love and understanding throughout the years.