Controlled fabrication of nanopores in nanometric solid state materials

A nanometric structure comprising:

• a self-supporting nanometric material selected from the group consisting of graphene, few-layer graphene, fluorographene, graphane, graphene oxide, said nanometric material having a hulk crystaline lattice disposed interior to lateral edges of the nanometric material, said bulk crystalline lattice including a plurality of nanopore nucleation sites, each nanopore nucleation site consisting of a defect in atomic bonds of no more than five atoms of the bulk crystalline lattice, said nanometric material having a thickness no greater than about 5 nm;
• a plurality of nanopores present in the nanometric material, with a nanopore density of at least about 1000 nanopores/cm2, each nanopore in the plurality of nanopores disposed at one of said nanopore nucleation sites in said bulk crystalline lattice, with nanopores sited at no location of the hulk crystalline lattice other than said nanopore nucleation sites, each nanopore extending in the bulk crystalline lattice from said one of the nanopore nucleation sites to a diameter no greater than about 10 nm, said plurality of nanopores having a distribution in diameter of no more than about ±30%;
• and
• wherein the bulk crystalline lattice between nanopores is an undamaged lattice, without atomic diffusion around edges of nanopores in the plurality of nanopores.