Imec Pioneers Wafer-Scale Solid-State Nanopore Production

Imec has unveiled a pioneering advancement in wafer-scale fabrication of solid-state nanopores using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. This breakthrough, achieved on 300mm wafers, promises to revolutionize biosensing applications in life sciences and healthcare by providing a scalable platform for genomics and proteomics. Previously, the mass production of solid-state nanopores faced challenges due to variability and complex integration.

The innovation by Imec could lead to high-throughput, CMOS-compatible biosensor arrays, which can potentially accelerate personalized medicine, rapid diagnostics, and molecular data storage. EUV lithography facilitates the fabrication of nanopores around 10 nm in size with the potential for further miniaturization. Such advancements indicate Imec's capability to transform molecular sensing with high precision.

According to Ashesh Ray Chaudhuri, project manager at Imec, this development opens new avenues for deploying high-throughput biosensor arrays within healthcare and potentially other fields beyond.