Biological nanopores play a key role in regulating the transport of macromolecules such as nucleic acid and proteins across the cellular membranes. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis and characterization of conical nanopores in semiconducting substrates, which allow active electrical control over ionic and molecular transport. We describe a simple process based on the catalytic plasma etching of silicon substrates using dispersed gold nanoparticles resulting in the formation of conical nanopores. The versatility of this approach is demonstrated by the ability to fabricate nanopores on large area and 3D surfaces. We have utilized such nanoporous membranes to investigate size based separation of protein molecules. Further, we studied the ability of such asymmetric nanopore geometries in rectifying ionic current across the membrane. Voltage gated response of the nanopore on the ionic transport was analysed by the application of a varying gate voltage on the semiconducting substrate.

Active control of ionic and molecular transport though semiconducting conical nanopores

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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