Ordered Si nanoaperture arrays for the measurement of ion currents across lipid membranes

Confined arrays of highly ordered microchannels in silicon with apertures as small as 100 nm and flat ridges between them are manufactured using electrochemically defined Si macropores whose orifices are reduced by deposition of dielectric SiO(x) thin films. The formation of continuous fluid lipid membranes over these channel arrays is achieved by vesicle fusion. This structure should allow a large choice of lipid membranes to be investigated by spatially resolved ion current measurements.