Focused Ion Beam-Based Fabrication and Electrical Impedance Characterization of Sub-Micropore Membrane

Abstract

Pore membranes have been used to entrap molecules, e.g., DNA, viruses, and proteins, and to mimic the lipid membrane of cells for studying various biological phenomena. In this work, sub-micropore membranes were fabricated by silicon processing along with the focused ion beam (FIB) technique and the electrical impedance of the fabricated pore membranes was characterized. Through scanning electron microscopy, the fabricated pore was found to have a diameter of 500 nm and thickness of 500 nm. Electrical impedance measurements of the pore membrane and cells revealed an increase in the impedance magnitude at low frequencies according to the positioning of single cells on the pore. Further, the measured impedance value of the pore membrane was found to be dependent on the type of cell positioned on the pore.