Abstract: The present invention provides a simple method for ablating a protective thin film on a bulk surface and roughening the underlying bulk. In an embodiment, silicon nitride thin films, which are useful as etch-stop masks in micro- and nano-fabrication, is removed from a silicon wafer's surface using a hand-held “flameless” Tesla-coil lighter. Vias created by a spatially localized electron beam from the lighter allow a practitioner to perform micro- and nano-fabrication without the conventional steps of needing a photoresist and photolithography. Patterning could be achieved with a hard mask or rastering of the spatially confined discharge, offering—with low barriers to rapid use—particular capabilities that might otherwise be out of reach to researchers without access to conventional, instrumentation-intensive micro- and nano-fabrication workflows.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a system including an insulator-based dielectrophoresis device. The insulator-based dielectrophoresis device includes a fluid flow channel having at least one fluid inlet and at least one fluid outlet. The fluid flow channel includes at least one insulating flow structure extending from a wall to define a constriction in the fluid flow channel. The system includes a detection chamber placed in fluid communication with the fluid flow channel by an opening in the wall of the fluid flow channel, where the opening is configured downstream of the at least one insulation flow structure. The detection chamber includes an electrochemical sensor configured to constrict the flow of fluid entering the detection chamber through a pore, where the pore is sized to produce a detectable signal upon passage of an analyte through the pore. The system may process the detectable signal to output a metric indicative of the identity or physiochemical property of the analyte.

Abstract: The present invention provides a simple method for ablating a protective thin film on a bulk surface and roughening the underlying bulk. In an embodiment, silicon nitride thin films, which are useful as etch-stop masks in micro- and nano-fabrication, is removed from a silicon wafer's surface using a hand-held “flameless” Tesla-coil lighter. Vias created by a spatially localized electron beam from the lighter allow a practitioner to perform micro- and nano-fabrication without the conventional steps of needing a photoresist and photolithography. Patterning could be achieved with a hard mask or rastering of the spatially confined discharge, offering—with low barriers to rapid use—particular capabilities that might otherwise be out of reach to researchers without access to conventional, instrumentation-intensive micro- and nano-fabrication workflows.