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Nanoscale Research Letters
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Electrically tunable solid-state silicon nanopore ion filter

Nanoscale Research Letters volume 2, Article number: 61 (2006) Cite this article

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Abstract

We show that a nanopore in a silicon membrane connected to a voltage source can be used as an electrically tunable ion filter. By applying a voltage between the heavily doped semiconductor and the electrolyte, it is possible to invert the ion population inside the nanopore and vary the conductance for both cations and anions in order to achieve selective conduction of ions even in the presence of significant surface charges in the membrane. Our model based on the solution of the Poisson equation and linear transport theory indicates that in narrow nanopores substantial gain can be achieved by controlling electrically the width of the charge double layer.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NIRT-NSF Grant No. CCR 02-10843 and the NIH Grant PHS1-R01-HG003713A.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    • Julien Vidal
    •  & Jean-Pierre Leburton

  2. Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    • Julien Vidal
    • , Maria E. Gracheva
    •  & Jean-Pierre Leburton

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Correspondence to Jean-Pierre Leburton.

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Vidal, J., Gracheva, M.E. & Leburton, J. Electrically tunable solid-state silicon nanopore ion filter. Nanoscale Res Lett 2, 61 (2007) doi:10.1007/s11671-006-9031-7

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Keywords

  • Ion channels
  • Artificial nanopore
  • Silicon materials
  • Nanofluidics