US2013306549A1PendingUtilityA1
Nanoporous membrane
Est. expiryAug 13, 2030(~4.1 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
B01D 67/0062B01D 71/0213B01D 2325/021B01D 69/02B82Y 40/00B01D 67/0058B01D 2323/24B01D 71/027B82Y 30/00B01D 71/02
51
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Claims
Abstract
A nano porous membrane having a uniform array of nanopores etch-formed in a thin film structure (e.g. (100)-oriented single crystal silicon) having a predetermined thickness, by (a) using interferometric lithography to create an etch pattern comprising a plurality array of unit patterns having a predetermined width/diameter, (b) using the etch pattern to etch frustum-shaped cavities or pits in the thin film structure such that the dimension of the frustum floors of the cavities are substantially equal to a desired pore size based on the predetermined thickness of the thin film structure and the predetermined width/diameter of the unit patterns, and (c) removing the frustum floors at a boundary plane of the thin film structure to expose, open, and thereby create the nanopores substantially having the desired pore size.
Claims
exact text as granted — not AI-modifiedWe claim:
1 . A nanoporous membrane, comprising:
a planar substrate having an array of frusto-geometric-shaped cavities etch-formed thereon with each cavity having a nanopore at a frustum floor thereof with a deterministically-dimensioned pore width that is substantially uniform with other nanopores of the array and substantially based on the substrate's thickness and etch profile and etch pattern dimensions, for enabling selective fluidic communication through the planar substrate via said array of nanopores.
2 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 1 ,
wherein the planar substrate is of a type which etches anisotropically with an anisotropic wet chemical etchant selective to said planar substrate.
3 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 2 ,
wherein the planar substrate is a (100)-oriented single crystal silicon substrate, and the cavities are inverted frusto-pyramidal cavities.
4 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 3 , wherein the pore width w 2 of each cavity is deterministically-dimensioned substantially according to:
w
2
=
w
1
-
(
2
tan
θ
)
d
,
where w 1 is the etch pattern width, θ is the angle, and d is the substrate thickness.
5 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 1 ,
wherein the planar substrate is of a type which etches isotropically with an isotropic wet chemical etchant selective to said planar substrate, and the cavities are frusto-spherical cavities.
6 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 5 ,
wherein the planar substrate is selected from a group consisting of SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 .
7 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 1 ,
further comprising a deposition layer formed on the cavities and nanopores for reduction tuning the pore widths of said nanopores.
8 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 1 ,
further comprising an electrical conductive layer formed on a substrate surface surrounding the array of nanopores for enabling voltage control of said nanopores.
9 . A nanoporous membrane, comprising:
a planar substrate having an array of inverted frusto-pyramidal cavities anisotropically etch-formed thereon with each cavity having a nanopore at a frustum floor thereof with a deterministically-dimensioned pore width that is substantially uniform with other nanopores of the array and substantially based on the substrate's thickness and etch profile and etch pattern dimensions, for enabling selective fluidic communication through the planar substrate via said array of nanopores.
10 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 9 ,
wherein the planar substrate is a (100)-oriented single crystal silicon substrate.
11 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 10 ,
wherein the pore width w 2 of each cavity is deterministically-dimensioned substantially according to:
w
2
=
w
1
-
(
2
tan
θ
)
d
,
where w 1 is the etch pattern width, θ is the angle, and d is the substrate thickness.
12 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 9 ,
further comprising a deposition layer formed on the cavities and nanopores for reduction tuning the pore widths of said nanopores.
13 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 9 ,
further comprising an electrical conductive layer formed on a substrate surface surrounding the array of nanopores for enabling voltage control of said nanopores.
14 . A nanoporous membrane, comprising:
a planar substrate having an array of frusto-spherical cavities isotropically etch-formed thereon with each cavity having a nanopore at a frustum floor thereof with a deterministically-dimensioned pore width that is substantially uniform with other nanopores of the array and substantially based on the substrate's thickness and etch profile, etch pattern dimensions, and etch time, for enabling selective fluidic communication through the planar substrate via said array of nanopores.
15 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 14 ,
wherein the planar substrate is selected from a group consisting of SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 .
16 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 14 ,
further comprising a deposition layer formed on the cavities and nanopores for reduction tuning the pore widths of said nanopores.
17 . The nanoporous membrane of claim 14 ,
further comprising an electrical conductive layer formed on a substrate surface surrounding the array of nanopores for enabling voltage control of said nanopores.Cited by (0)
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