Ion Current Rectification and Long-Range Interference in Conical Silicon Micropores

Fluidic devices exhibiting ion current rectification (ICR), or ionic diodes, are of broad interest for applications including desalination, energy harvesting, and sensing, among others. For such applications a large conductance is desirable, which can be achieved by simultaneously using thin membranes and wide pores. In this paper we demonstrate ICR in micrometer sized conical channels in a thin silicon membrane with pore diameters comparable to the membrane thickness but both much larger than the electrolyte screening length. We show that for these pores the entrance resistance is key not only to Ohmic conductance around 0 V but also for understanding ICR, both of which we measure experimentally and capture within a single analytic theoretical framework. The only fit parameter in this theory is the membrane surface potential, for which we find that it is voltage dependent and its value is excessively large compared to the literature. From this we infer that surface charge outside the pore strongly contributes to the observed Ohmic conductance and rectification by a different extent. We experimentally verify this hypothesis in a small array of pores and find that ICR vanishes due to pore-pore interactions mediated through the membrane surface, while Ohmic conductance around 0 V remains unaffected. We find that the pore-pore interaction for ICR is set by a long-ranged decay of the concentration which explains the surprising finding that the ICR vanishes for even a sparsely populated array with a pore-pore spacing as large as 7 μm.

Sub-10-nm-thick SiN nanopore membranes fabricated using the SiO2sacrificial layer process

In our previous studies, ultrathin SiN membranes down to 3 nm in thickness were fabricated using the poly-Si sacrificial layer process, and nanopores were formed in those membranes. The region of the SiN membrane fabricated using this process was small, and the poly-Si sacrificial layer remained throughout the other region. On the other hand, to reduce the noise of the current through the nanopore, it is preferable to reduce the capacitance of the nanopore chip by replacing the poly-Si layer with an insulator with low permittivity, such as SiO₂. Thus, in this study, the fabrication of SiN membranes with thicknesses of 3-7 nm using the SiO₂sacrificial layer process was examined. SiN membranes with thicknesses of less than 5 nm could not be formed when the thickness of the top SiN layer deposited onto the sacrificial layer was 100 nm. In contrast, SiN membranes down to 3.07 nm in thickness could be formed when the top SiN layer was 40 nm in thickness. This is thought to be due to the difference in membrane stress. Nanopores were then fabricated in the membranes via dielectric breakdown. The current noise of the nanopore membranes was approximately 3/5 that of membranes fabricated using the poly-Si sacrificial layer process. Last, ionic current blockades were measured when poly(dT)₆₀passed through the nanopores, and the effective thickness of the nanopores was estimated based on those current-blockade values. The effective thickness was approximately 4.8 nm when the deposited thickness of the SiN membrane was 6.03 nm. On the other hand, the effective thickness and the deposited thickness were almost the same when the deposited thickness was 3.07 nm. This suggests it became difficult to form a shape in which the thickness of the nanopore edge was thinner than the deposited membrane thickness as the deposited thickness decreased.

Flexible Sulfide Electrolyte Thin Membrane with Ultrahigh Ionic Conductivity for All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries

All-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) employing Li-metal anode, sulfide solid electrolyte (SE) can deliver high energy density with high safety. The thick SE separator and its low ionic conductivity are two major challenges. Herein, a 30 μm sulfide SE membrane with ultrahigh room temperature conductivity of 8.4 mS cm^-1 is realized by mechanized manufacturing technologies using highly conductive Li_5.4PS_4.4Cl_1.6 SE powder. Moreover, a 400 nm magnetron sputtered Al₂O₃ interlayer is introduced into the SE/Li interface to improve the anodic stability, which suppresses the short circuit in Li/Li symmetric cells. Combining these merits, ASSLBs with LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ as the cathode exhibit a stable cyclic performance, delivering a discharge specific capacity of 135.3 mAh g^-1 (1.4 mAh cm^-2) with a retention of 80.2% after 150 cycles and an average Coulombic efficiency over 99.5%. The high ionic conductivity SE membrane and interface design principle show promising feasible strategies for practical high performance ASSLBs.

Tb3+/Eu3+ Complex-Doped Rigid Nanoparticles in Transparent Nanofibrous Membranes Exhibit High Quantum Yield Fluorescence

In this study, transparent membranes containing luminescent Tb3+ and Eu3+ complex-doped silica nanoparticles were prepared via electrospinning. We prepared the electrospun fibrous membranes containing Tb(acac)3phen- (acac = acetylacetone, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) and/or Eu(tta)3phen- (tta = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone) doped silica (M-Si-Tb3+ and M-Si-Eu3+) and studied their photoluminescence properties. The fibrous membranes containing the rare earth complexes were prepared by electrospinning. The surface morphology and thermal properties of the fibrous membrane were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to characterize the fluorescence properties of the membranes. During the electrospinning process, the PVDF transitions from the α phase to the β phase, which exhibits a more rigid structure. The introduction of rigid materials, like PVDF and silica, can improve the fluorescence properties of the hybrid materials by reducing the rate of nonradiative decay. So the emission spectra at 548 nm (Tb) and 612 nm (Eu) were enhanced, as compared to the emission from the pure complex. Furthermore, the fluorescence lifetimes ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 ms and the quantum yields ranged from 32% to 61%. The luminescent fibrous membranes have potential applications in the fields of display panels, innovative electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Solid-state nanopore localization by controlled breakdown of selectively thinned membranes

We demonstrate precise positioning of nanopores fabricated by controlled breakdown (CBD) on solid-state membranes by spatially varying the electric field strength with localized membrane thinning. We show 100 × 100 nm² precision in standard SiN _x membranes (30-100 nm thick) after selective thinning by as little as 25% with a helium ion beam. Control over nanopore position is achieved through the strong dependence of the electric field-driven CBD mechanism on membrane thickness. Confinement of pore formation to the thinned region of the membrane is confirmed by TEM imaging and by analysis of DNA translocations. These results enhance the functionality of CBD as a fabrication approach and enable the production of advanced nanopore devices for single-molecule sensing applications.

DNA Translocation in Nanometer Thick Silicon Nanopores

Solid-state nanopores are single-molecule sensors that detect changes in ionic conductance (ΔG) when individual molecules pass through them. Producing high signal-to-noise ratio for the measurement of molecular structure in applications such as DNA sequencing requires low noise and large ΔG. The latter is achieved by reducing the nanopore diameter and membrane thickness. While the minimum diameter is limited by the molecule size, the membrane thickness is constrained by material properties. We use molecular dynamics simulations to determine the theoretical thickness limit of amorphous Si membranes to be ∼1 nm, and we designed an electron-irradiation-based thinning method to reach that limit and drill nanopores in the thinned regions. Double-stranded DNA translocations through these nanopores (down to 1.4 nm in thickness and 2.5 nm in diameter) provide the intrinsic ionic conductance detection limit in Si-based nanopores. In this regime, where the access resistance is comparable to the nanopore resistance, we observe the appearance of two conductance levels during molecule translocation. Considering the overall performance of Si-based nanopores, our work highlights their potential as a leading material for sequencing applications.