Silicon Nanopore Devices for DNA Translocation and Sequencing Studies

In this talk, I will discuss the recent progress [1-3] in developing solid-state nanopore devices using silicon technology.~ We have demonstrated a novel technique for shaping nanopores in the range of 1-10 nm, using surface-tension-driven mass flow with single nanometer precision.~ This technique overcomes a major technical challenge in silicon technology. I will also discuss the current effort [3] in developing integrated nanopore silicon chips with electrically addressable nanopores. These devices are used for DNA translocation and sequencing studies.~ This work was done in collaboration with the group of Cees Dekker at TU-Delft with partial support from FOM and Guggenheim Foundation. The work at Brown was supported by NSF-NER and NSF-NIRT. \newline \newline [1] A.J. Storm, J.H. Chen, X.S. Ling, H. Zandbergen, and C. Dekker, ``Fabrication of Solid-State Nanopores with Single Nanometer Precision'', Nature Materials, 2, 537 (2003). \newline [2] A.J. Storm, J.H. Chen, X.S. Ling, H. Zandbergen, and C. Dekker, ``Electron-Beam-Induced Deformations of SiO2 Nanostructures'', Journal of Applied Physics (submitted, 2004). \newline [3] X.S. Ling, "Addressable nanopores and micropores" (patent pending).