Researchers Scale Up Nano-Sized Pore Technology Using Standard Chip Manufacturing
Scientists have adapted existing semiconductor fabrication processes to mass-produce tiny nanopores—structures smaller than molecules—on silicon chips. The breakthrough could enable faster disease diagnostics, water filtration, and energy harvesting systems by allowing manufacturers to integrate multiple nanotechnologies on a single chip at scale.
Originaltitel: Planar Solid‐State Nanopores Toward Scalable Nanofluidic Integration Based on CMOS Technology
Solid‐state nanopores (SSNPs) are of potential for a wide range of applications from single‐molecule detection and selective filtration to osmotic power harvesting and iontronics. As the demand for such applications escalates, a design scheme to sophisticate the nanopore platform is to integrate complementary nanofluidic components, including nanochannels and nanoreactors, to realize fully fletched lab‐on‐chip systems. Herein, we present a scalable fabrication strategy for planar SSNPs based on standard silicon technology that has been developed for advanced integrated circuits. We demonstrate a prototype device featuring a nanopore linking two microfluidic reservoirs, characterize its electrical noise profile, and quantify the streaming current generated under a pressure‐driven flow. Use of the silicon nanofabrication process further allows the geometry and dimension (length, width, height) of each planar nanopore to be independently designed and the nanopores to naturally become part of a fluidic system with mixed micro‐ and nanoscale channels on the same chip. This process supports wafer‐scale manufacture of high‐density micro/nanofluidics, delivers exceptional mechanical stability, and is fully compatible with complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor electronics. Together, these attributes establish a versatile, integrable nanofluidic platform for next‐generation sensing, energy, and analytical applications.