The membrane of a conventional solid-state nanopore device, which is believed to be promising for understanding the structural characteristics of DNA and determining a nucleotide sequence, has been thick, and the accuracy in determining a nucleotide sequence in the DNA chain has been insufficient. A method characterized by forming a membrane by forming a first film on a first substrate having a surface of Si, then forming a hole in the first film in such a manner that the surface of the first substrate is exposed, then forming a second film on the first film and on the surface of the first substrate and then etching the first substrate with a solution which does not remove the second film.

A MEMS microphone includes a substrate defining a cavity, a diaphragm being spaced apart from the substrate, covering the cavity, and being configured to generate a displacement thereof in response to an applied acoustic pressure, an anchor extending from an end portion of the diaphragm, the anchor including a lower surface in contact with an upper surface of the substrate to support the diaphragm, a back plate disposed over the diaphragm, the back plate being spaced apart from the diaphragm such that an air gap is maintained between the back plate and the diaphragm, and defining a plurality of acoustic holes and an upper insulation layer provided on the substrate, covering the back plate, and holding the back plate to space the back plate from the diaphragm, the upper insulation layer having a flat plate shape to prevent sagging of the back plate.

A method of fabricating an electronic component includes forming a functional unit on a main surface of a substrate, forming a sacrificial layer covering the functional unit on the main surface, forming a cap layer covering the sacrificial layer, the cap layer forming a periphery enclosing the cavity on the main surface, forming holes through the cap layer, forming a cavity by removing the sacrificial layer using a wet etching process through the holes, the holes including a peripheral hole communicating an inside of the cavity with an outside of the cavity along the main surface, and forming a first resin layer covering the cap layer and the main surface.

A method is provided for precisely enlarging a nanopore formed in a membrane. The method includes: applying an electric potential across the nanopore, where the electric potential has a pulsed waveform oscillating between a high value and a low value; measuring current flowing though the nanopore while the electric potential is being applied to the nanopore at a low value; determining size of the nanopore based in part on the measured current; and removing the electric potential applied to the membrane when the size of the nanopore corresponds to a desired size.

A method of manufacturing a plurality of through-holes (132) in a layer of material by subjecting the layer to directional dry etching to provide through-holes (132) in the layer of material; For batch-wise production, the method comprises after a step of providing a layer of first material (220) on base material and before the step of directional dry etching, providing a plurality of holes at the central locations of pits (210), etching base material at the central locations of the pits (210) so as to form a cavity (280) with an aperture (281), depositing a second layer of material (240) on the base material in the cavity (280), and subjecting the second layer of material (240) in the cavity (280) to said step of directional dry etching using the aperture (281) as the opening (141) of a shadow mask.

A method of manufacturing a plurality of through-holes in a layer of first material, for example for the manufacturing of a probe comprising a tip containing a channel. To manufacture the through-holes in a batch process, a layer of first material is deposited on a wafer comprising a plurality of pits a second layer is provided on the layer of first material, and the second layer is provided with a plurality of holes at central locations of the pits; using the second layer as a shadow mask when depositing a third layer at an angle, covering a part of the first material with said third material at the central locations, and etching the exposed parts of the first layer using the third layer as a protective layer.

A method for fabricating a stacked nanopore includes forming a stack of layers having alternating conductive lines and dielectric layers on a substrate, and patterning the stack to form a staircase structure with the conductive lines having a length gradually changing at each level in the stack. The method also includes depositing and planarizing a dielectric material over the staircase structure, forming contacts through the dielectric material to the conductive lines for each level of conductive lines, etching a nanopore through the stack of layers to form pairs of opposing electrodes across the nanopore using the conductive lines; and opening up the substrate to expose the nanopore.

A highly-ordered nano-structure array, formed on a substrate, mainly comprises a plurality of highly-ordered nano-structure units. Each of the highly-ordered nano-structure units forms a receiving compartment. One end of the receiving compartment opposite to the substrate has an opening. Each of the highly-ordered nano-structure units comprises at least one thin film layer. A periphery and a bottom of the receiving compartment are defined by an inner surface of a surrounding portion of the at least one thin film layer and a top surface of a bottom portion of the at least one thin film layer, respectively. The at least one thin film layer is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of: metal, alloy, oxide, nitride, and sulfide.

Embodiments of the present technology may allow for improved and more reliable tunneling junctions and methods of fabricating the tunneling junctions. Electrical shorting issues may be reduced by depositing electrodes without a sharp sidewall and corner but instead with a sloping or curved sidewall. Layers deposited on top of the electrode layer may then be able to adequately cover the underlying electrode layer and therefore reduce or prevent shorting. Additionally, two insulating materials may be used as the dielectric layer may reduce the possibility of incomplete coverage and the possibility of flaking. Furthermore, the electrodes may be tapered from the contact area to the junction area to provide a thin electrode where the hole is to be patterned, while the thicker contact area reduces sheet resistance. The electrode may also be patterned to be wider at the contact area and narrower at the junction area.

A layered nanostructure including a crack-forming layer with a first notch and a second notch provided in the crack-forming layer and the first notch is disclosed. A nanocrack is provided between the first notch and the second notch. Strain release in the tensilly stressed crack-forming layer is utilized in the layered nanostructure so that the nanocrack is very uniformed and well controlled with a width that may be below 10 nm. Nanopore devices including crossing nanocracks may be provided.