Controlling ion transport through nanopores: modeling transistor behavior

Abstract

We present a modeling study of a nanopore-based transistor computed by a mean-field continuum theory (Poisson-Nernst-Planck, PNP) and a hybrid method including particle simulation (Local Equilibrium Monte Carlo, LEMC) that is able to take ionic correlations into account including finite size of ions. The model is composed of three regions along the pore axis with the left and right regions determining the ionic species that is the main charge carrier, and the central region tuning the concentration of that species and, thus, the current flowing through the nanopore. We consider a model of small dimensions with the pore radius comparable to the Debye-screening length ($R_{\mathrm{pore}}/{\lambda }_{\mathrm{D}}\approx 1$), which, together with large surface charges provides a mechanism for creating depletion zones and, thus, controlling ionic current through the device. We report scaling behavior of the device as a function the $R_{\mathrm{pore}}/{\lambda }_{\mathrm{D}}$ parameter. Qualitative agreement between PNP and LEMC results indicates that mean-field electrostatic effects determine device behavior to the first order.

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Cited by in corpus (8)

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• Electrical Circuit Modelling of Nanofluidic Systems
• From nanotubes to nanoholes: scaling of selectivity in uniformly charged nanopores through the Dukhin number for 1:1 electrolytes
• Application of a bipolar nanopore as a sensor: rectification as an additional device function
• Controlling ionic current through a nanopore by tuning pH: a Local Equilibrium Monte Carlo study
• Bipolar nanochannels: The effects of an electro-osmotic instability. Part I: Steady-state response
• Active control of transport through nanopores