Researchers from Brown University in the U.S. have developed methods for producing synthetic nanopores, some with biomolecular sensing abilities, in low-cost materials such as plastics. The article says that one of the nanopore fabrication methods involves using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to drill holes in silica with single nanometer precision, a process that researcher Sean Ling said should also work for other materials such as inexpensive plastics. Ling said that this technique could significantly reduce the cost of fabricating devices with nanopores, such as those with applications in rapid DNA sequencing.
