Nanopore cavity arrays on Silicon-on-Sapphire substrates for optical studies of transport across lipid membranes

We demonstrate the realization of a novel architecture of nanopore microcavity structures on Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS) substrates. By advanced nanofabrication and anisotropic wet etching techniques, arrays of femtoliter cavities featuring both, a single nanopore in a top silicon nitride membrane and a transparent bottom, were fabricated. The cavities demonstrated excellent wetting behavior with electrolyte buffer solution and long-term stability of lipid bilayers that were suspended over the nanopores. Preliminary microscopy studies of membrane-enclosed fluorescence markers suggest our new platform for future multiplexed monitoring of membrane transport processes, at single protein resolution.