Method of stem-based drilling of ultrathin silicon nitride nanopores and nanopore arrays
AssigneeThe Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
InventorsMarija Drndic, Julio A. Rodriguez-Manzo
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Abstract
The invention concerns methods for preparing a nanoporous silicon nitride membrane comprising (i) ablating portions of at least one side of the membrane with an electron beam to reduce the thickness of the portions to between about 0.5 and 5 nanometers, and (ii) penetrating subportions of the ablated portions of the membrane with an electron beam to form nanopores having internal surfaces which are predominantly silicon rich compared to unablated portions of the membrane.
Claims29
A method for preparing a nanoporous silicon nitride membrane comprising:
- ablating portions of at least one side of the silicon nitride membrane with an electron beam to give rise to thinned portions such that each thinned portion defines an upper surface parallel to an upper surface of the silicon nitride membrane, each thinned portion having a thickness of between about 0.3 and about 5 nanometers;
- and
- penetrating the thinned portions of the silicon nitride membrane with an electron beam to form nanopores extending through the thinned portions of the silicon nitride membrane;
- wherein the thinned portions of the silicon nitride membrane are formed essentially of amorphous silicon having therein less than about 10% of the nitrogen present in silicon nitride.
A macromolecule analysis component, comprising a nanoporous silicon nitride membrane having an upper surface, the component prepared by a method comprising:
- ablating portions of at least one side of the silicon nitride membrane with an electron beam to give rise to thinned portions such that each thinned portion defines an upper surface parallel to the upper surface of the silicon nitride membrane, each thinned portion having a thickness of between about 0.3 and about 5 nanometers;
- and
- penetrating the thinned portions of the silicon nitride membrane with an electron beam to form nanopores extending through the thinned portions of the silicon nitride membrane;
- wherein the thinned portions of the silicon nitride membrane are formed essentially of amorphous silicon having therein less than about 10% of the nitrogen present in silicon nitride.
A method of sequencing DNA or RNA sequences, comprising:
- with a component that comprises a silicon nitride membrane,
- the silicon nitride membrane comprising (i) a thick region having an upper surface, (ii) a thinned region formed in the thick region, the thinned region having an upper surface, the upper surface of the thick region being parallel to the upper surface of the thinned region,
- the thinned region being formed essentially of amorphous silicon having therein less than about 10% of the nitrogen present in silicon nitride,
- the thinned region having a thickness of from about 0.3 to about 5 nanometers;
- and
- the thinned region having a nanopore extending therethrough,
- translocating a molecule through the nanopore and detecting a signal related to the translocation of the molecule through the nanopore.
A macromolecule analysis component, comprising:
- a silicon nitride membrane,
- the silicon nitride membrane comprising (i) a thick region having an upper surface, (ii) a thinned region formed in the thick region, the thinned region having an upper surface, the upper surface of the thick region being parallel to the upper surface of the thinned region,
- the thinned region being formed essentially of amorphous silicon having therein less than about 10% of the nitrogen present in silicon nitride,
- the thinned region having a thickness of from about 0.3 to about 5 nanometers;
- and
- the thinned region having a nanopore extending therethrough.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.