Abstract
Size-based separations technologies will inevitably benefit from advances in nanotechnology.Direct-write nanofabrication provides a useful mechanism for depositing/etching nanoscaleelements in environments otherwise inaccessible to conventional nanofabrication techniques.Here, electron beam induced deposition was used to deposit an array of nanoscale featuresin a 3D environment with minimal material proximity effects outside the beam-interactionregion. Specifically, the membrane component of a nanoparticle separator was fabricated bydepositing a linear array of sharply tipped nanopillars, with a singular pitch, designed forsub-50 nm nanoparticle permeability. The nanopillar membrane was used in a dualcapacity to control the flow of nanoparticles in the transaxial direction of the arraywhile facilitating the sealing of the cellular-sized compartment in the paraxialdirection. An optimized growth recipe resulted which (1) maximized the growthefficiency of the membrane (which minimizes proximity effects) and (2) preservedthe fidelity of the spacing between nanopillars (which maximizes the size-basedgating quality of the membrane) while (3) maintaining sharp nanopillar apexesfor impaling an optically transparent polymeric lid critical for device sealing.
Published Version
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