Diameter distribution and formation mechanism of solid-state nanopores prepared by dielectric breakdown

Shengfa Liang,Feibin Xiang,Wenchang Zhang

doi:10.1063/5.0059549

Abstract

The diameter distribution and dielectric breakdown mechanism of solid-state nanopores in a liquid environment are discussed based on the experimental results. We discussed the nanopore formation mechanism from the viewpoint of the statistical correlation between the diameter distribution, the charge to breakdown, and the dissipated energy across the nanopore by changing the field stress. We found that high field stress increases the instability of the uniformity of the nanopore diameter. Similar to the mechanism in the solid situation, the diameter of the nanopore can be uniquely correlated to the dissipated energy in the pore formation process.

Highlights

Since solid-state nanopores can be used for single-particle measurement and have important application prospects in biomedicine and other fields, they are attracting extensive attention at present
The present equipment used for preparing nanopores, such as the transmission electron microscope (TEM)8,9 and Focused Ion Beam (FIB),10 always has high processing cost
The experimental results show that there is no obvious correlation between the size of the nanopore and Qbd under different electric fields. This indicates that the F–N stress has no direct relationship with the subsequent pore formation process and does not directly correspond to the size of the nanopore fabricated by dielectric breakdown in a liquid environment

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Since solid-state nanopores can be used for single-particle measurement and have important application prospects in biomedicine and other fields, they are attracting extensive attention at present. Since the pore size of the solid-state nanopores can be prepared as required and can be prepared based on microfabrication techniques, it provides support for its large-scale application. A method for preparing nanopores based on the principle of dielectric breakdown has emerged, which can fabricate nanopores with a diameter of 2 nm quickly and efficiently. The dielectric breakdown can form a nanopore, the size of the pores is random, and it is hard to control the initial size of the nanopore. How to fabricate nanopores with a uniform diameter and shorten the pore-forming time are a problem in large-scale preparation. To achieve such a goal, understanding the potential mechanism of the pore-forming process is helpful. The underlying mechanism of the nanopore formation process is analyzed

FABRICATION

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION