Multiple-Nanopores Fabrication based on Dielectric Breakdown

Single molecule detection based on nanopore technology is becoming more and more established recently. Due to the Coulter counter and ion channels detection principle, single nanopore suffers from limitation of low throughput. Thus high-throughput nanopore detection based is a definite direction of development. Dielectric breakdown, a novel method reported by Tabard-Cossa recently, shows advantages for low-cost and high fabrication efficiency compared to previous transmission electro microscopy (TEM) and focus ion beam (FIB) drilling. Here we show that the by means of dielectric breakdown, several nanopores can be formed in one SiN membrane. By controlling the experiment conditions, we explore the number and diameters of nanopores fabricated by our methods. Although it is still a challenge in making nanopore arrays due to the random formation, we show a simple and convenient method to fabricate two or three nanopores at the same time.