Understanding electrical conduction and nanopore formation during controlled breakdown
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Controlled breakdown has recently emerged as a highly appealing technique to fabricate solid-state nanopores for a wide range of biosensing applications. This technique relies on applying an electric field of approximately 0.4–1 V nm−1 across the membrane to induce a current, and eventually, breakdown of the dielectric. Although previous studies have performed controlled breakdown under a range of different conditions, the mechanism of conduction and breakdown has not been fully explored. Here, electrical conduction and nanopore formation in SiNx membranes during controlled breakdown is studied. It is demonstrated that for Si-rich SiNx, oxidation reactions that occur at the membrane-electrolyte interface limit conduction across the dielectric. However, for stoichiometric Si3N4 the effect of oxidation reactions becomes relatively small and conduction is predominately limited by charge transport across the dielectric. Several important implications resulting from understanding this process are provided which will aid in further developing controlled breakdown in the coming years, particularly for extending this technique to integrate nanopores with on-chip nanostructures.
Date Issued
2021-09-16
Date Acceptance
2021-08-01
Citation
Small, 2021, 17 (37), pp.1-9
ISSN
1613-6810
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1
End Page
9
Journal / Book Title
Small
Volume
17
Issue
37
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. Small published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribu-tion License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202102543
Grant Number
279818
BB/R022429/1
600322/05
EP/V049070/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry, Physical
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
Chemistry
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
Physics
dielectric breakdown
nanofabrication
single-molecule biosensing
solid-state nanopores
SOLID-STATE NANOPORES
DNA TRANSLOCATIONS
GRAPHENE
FABRICATION
TRANSPORT
CHARGE
NOISE
ION
dielectric breakdown
nanofabrication
single-molecule biosensing
solid-state nanopores
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-08-01