The Penn State Research Foundation

Wook Jun Nam

Stephen J Fonash

Daniel Hayes

Joseph D Cuiffi

Ali Kaan Kalkan

Sanghoon Bae

Yinghui Shan

A Kaan Kalkan

Youngchul Lee

Chih-Yi Peng

Paul Butterfoss

Kyuhwan Chang

Micro- or nano-pores are produced in a membrane for various applications including filtration and sorting functions. Pores with at least one cross-sectional dimension in or near the nano-scale are provided. Device designs and processing allow for the use of thin film disposition and nano-imprinting or nano-molding to produce arrays of nano-pores in membrane materials functioning in applications such as filtration membranes, drug application/control structures, body fluid sampling structures, and sorting membranes. The nano-imprinting or nano-molding approach is utilized to create nano-elements in an organic or inorganic mold material with at least one nano-element cross-sectional dimension in or close to the nano-scale. These nano-elements can be in various shapes including slits, cones, columns, domes, and hemispheres.

Nano-pore arrays for bio-medical, environmental, and industrial sorting, filtering, monitoring, or dispensing

A three dimensional biomedical probe device is provided that includes a planar substrate. A probe structure is supported on the planar substrate. The probe structure has a base and a portion essentially perpendicular to the base extending along a length to a tip and has a linear dimension at the tip of said probe structure of between 5 nanometers (nm) and 5 microns thereby defining an AC, DC, or transient current, charge, or voltage sensing probe. In one variation, this probe is the electrical contact to the biomedical medium. In another variation, this probe is also the gate electrode of a field effect transistor (FET). An array of selectively electrically addressable such devices is also provided giving the ability to sample the physiological activity at many positions within cells, fluids and intercellular regions without the need for mechanical motion and inducing cellular lysis.

Three-dimensional bio-medical probe sensing and contacting structures with addressibility and tunability

This invention uses large surface to volume ratio materials for separation, release layer, and sacrificial material applications. The invention outlines the material concept, application designs, and fabrication methodologies. The invention is demonstrated using deposited column/void network materials as examples of large surface to volume ratio materials. In a number of the specific applications discussed, it is shown that it is advantageous to create structures on a laminate on a mother substrate and then, using the separation layer material approach, to separate this laminate from the mother substrate using the present separation scheme. It is also shown that the present materials have excellent release layer utility. In a number of applications it is also shown how the approach can be used to uniquely form cavities, channels, air-gaps, and related structures in or on various substrates. Further, it is demonstrated that it also can be possible and advantageous to combine the schemes for cavity formation with the scheme for laminate separation.

Deposited thin films and their use in separation and sacrificial layer applications

This invention presents a novel method to form uniform or heterogeneous, straight or curved and size-controllable nanostructures including, for example, nanotubes, nanowires, nanoribbons, and nanotapes, including SiNW, using a nanochannel template. In the case of semiconductor nanowires, doping can be included during growth. Electrode contacts are present as needed and may be built in to the template structure. Thus completed devices such as diodes, transistors, solar cells, sensors, and transducers are fabricated, contacted, and arrayed as nanowire or nanotape fabrication is completed. Optionally, the template is not removed and may become part of the structure. Nanodevices such as nanotweezers, nanocantilevers, and nanobridges are formed utilizing the processes of the invention.

Controlled nanowire growth in permanent, integrated nano-templates and methods of fabricating sensor and transducer structures

There is disclosed a method providing micro-scale devices, nano-scale devices, or devices having both nano-scale and micro-scale features. The method of the invention comprises fluidic assembly and various novel devices produced thereby. A variety of nanofluidic and molecular electronic type devices and structures having applications such as filtering and genetic sequencing are provided by the invention.

Growing community of inventors

State College, PA, United States of America

Wook Jun Nam