| We envision solid-state nanopores at the heart of a device capable of detecting, manipulating, and ultimately sequencing individual DNA molecules. To reliably fabricate holes whose diameter is commensurate with that of the DNA molecule (∼2nm), low energy ion beams are employed to tailor the size of holes in solid-state membranes by a new technique we call “ion beam sculpting”. The transmission rate of ions through the hole is monitored to provide a direct, real-time measure of the hole area that is used as a feedback signal to trigger the termination of the ion irradiation process when the desired hole size is obtained.; The sensitivity of the transmitted ion count rate to atomic-scale material rearrangements at the perimeter of a hole led to a surprising discovery: Low-energy ion beams stimulate the lateral transport of matter when incident on a surface, resulting in the growth of a thin film from the boundary of a hole that closes the hole. The net flow of matter is determined by a competition between sputter erosion, which opens the hole, and a hole closing process that dominates at high temperature and low flux. The timescale for lateral matter transport under ion irradiation is surprisingly long—on the order of a second.; Two physical models are proposed to account for the surprising ion-stimulated transport of matter. One model is based on the viscous flow of a stressed surface layer, while the other is based on the diffusion of mobile, ion-stimulated species at the surface of the material into the hole. The predictions of the latter are compared to ion beam sculpting experiments.; We exploit ion beam sculpting to fabricate solid-state nanopores used as electronic detectors of individual DNA molecules. In ionic solution, negatively charged DNA molecules are drawn to the nanopore by an applied electrochemical potential, resulting in a detectable characteristic ionic current blockade when a molecules occludes the nanopore.; The applicability of the ion sculpting fabrication technique to metallic leads is discussed as a means of achieving a nanopore articulated with transverse tunneling electrodes, which could achieve our envisioned task of rapid DNA sequencing. |
