Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina 27101, United States.
Nanotechnology. 2017 Feb 24;28(8):085304-85304. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/aa564d. Epub 2017 Jan 3.
We demonstrate precise positioning of nanopores fabricated by controlled breakdown (CBD) on solid-state membranes by spatially varying the electric field strength with localized membrane thinning. We show 100 × 100 nm precision in standard SiN membranes (30-100 nm thick) after selective thinning by as little as 25% with a helium ion beam. Control over nanopore position is achieved through the strong dependence of the electric field-driven CBD mechanism on membrane thickness. Confinement of pore formation to the thinned region of the membrane is confirmed by TEM imaging and by analysis of DNA translocations. These results enhance the functionality of CBD as a fabrication approach and enable the production of advanced nanopore devices for single-molecule sensing applications.
我们通过局部化的膜减薄来实现电场强度的空间变化，从而展示了通过受控击穿 (CBD) 在固态膜上精确定位纳米孔的能力。我们在选择性地用氦离子束减薄 25%后，在标准 SiN 膜（30-100nm 厚）上实现了 100×100nm 的精度。通过电场驱动 CBD 机制对膜厚的强烈依赖，实现了对纳米孔位置的控制。通过 TEM 成像和 DNA 转位分析证实了将孔形成限制在膜的减薄区域内。这些结果增强了 CBD 作为一种制造方法的功能，并能够生产用于单分子传感应用的先进纳米孔器件。
