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Formation of Single Nanopores with Diameters of 20-50 nm in Silicon Nitride Membranes Using Laser-Assisted Controlled Breakdown.
Journal article

Formation of Single Nanopores with Diameters of 20-50 nm in Silicon Nitride Membranes Using Laser-Assisted Controlled Breakdown.

  • Ying C Adolphe Merkle Institute , University of Fribourg , Chemin des Verdiers 4 , CH-1700 Fribourg , Switzerland.
  • Houghtaling J Adolphe Merkle Institute , University of Fribourg , Chemin des Verdiers 4 , CH-1700 Fribourg , Switzerland.
  • Eggenberger OM Adolphe Merkle Institute , University of Fribourg , Chemin des Verdiers 4 , CH-1700 Fribourg , Switzerland.
  • Guha A Adolphe Merkle Institute , University of Fribourg , Chemin des Verdiers 4 , CH-1700 Fribourg , Switzerland.
  • Nirmalraj P Adolphe Merkle Institute , University of Fribourg , Chemin des Verdiers 4 , CH-1700 Fribourg , Switzerland.
  • Awasthi S Adolphe Merkle Institute , University of Fribourg , Chemin des Verdiers 4 , CH-1700 Fribourg , Switzerland.
  • Tian J Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics , Nankai University , Tianjin 300071 , China.
  • Mayer M Adolphe Merkle Institute , University of Fribourg , Chemin des Verdiers 4 , CH-1700 Fribourg , Switzerland.
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  • 2018-10-19
Published in:
  • ACS nano. - 2018
dielectric breakdown
laser heating
lipid bilayer coating
nanofabrication
protein characterization
solid-state nanopore
surface functionalization
English Nanopores with diameters from 20 to 50 nm in silicon nitride (SiN x) windows are useful for single-molecule studies of globular macromolecules. While controlled breakdown (CBD) is gaining popularity as a method for fabricating nanopores with reproducible size control and broad accessibility, attempts to fabricate large nanopores with diameters exceeding ∼20 nm via breakdown often result in undesirable formation of multiple nanopores in SiN x membranes. To reduce the probability of producing multiple pores, we combined two strategies: laser-assisted breakdown and controlled pore enlargement by limiting the applied voltage. Based on laser power-dependent increases in nanopore conductance upon illumination and on the absence of an effect of ionic strength on the ratio between the nanopore conductance before and after laser illumination, we suggest that the increased rate of controlled breakdown results from laser-induced heating. Moreover, we demonstrate that conductance values before and after coating the nanopores with a fluid lipid bilayer can indicate fabrication of a single nanopore versus multiple nanopores. Complementary flux measurements of Ca2+ through the nanopore typically confirmed assessments of single or multiple nanopores that we obtained using the coating method. Finally, we show that thermal annealing of CBD pores significantly increased the success rate of coating and reduced the current noise before and after lipid coating. We characterize the geometry of these nanopores by analyzing individual resistive pulses produced by translocations of spherical proteins and demonstrate the usefulness of these nanopores for estimating the approximate molecular shape of IgG proteins.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
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Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/280619
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