All that I have read on ZMWs (not much) says "metallic subwavelength apertures" and then only mentions aluminium cladded ZMWs. Although I did find a comparison between Au vs Al (haven't read that yet), I wanted to know why is only Al being used for ZMW fabrication, the desired qualities or can any other metal be used too?
Dear Arti Tyagi ,
ZMW is one such nanophotonic confinement structure often consisting of a circular hole in a metal cladding film on a solid transparent substrate. ZMW takes advantage of the exponentially decaying field existing inside the metal clad waveguide at cutoff. Because of the functional difference in the spatial dependence polynomial to exponential of the light intensity, the ZMW provides stronger confinement and better performance when used for singlemolecule detection at high concentration. Furthermore, ZMWs can be mass manufactured and used in parallel detection systems.
Benifits of using Aluminum ZMWs
Aluminum ZMWs are important structures due to their commercial availability. The lower losses of aluminum in the green spectral region provide larger fluorescence brightness enhancement factors. However, aluminum is often subject to corrosion and it could be proved that this is partially induced by the ZMWs themselves: Subdiffusion in the apertures enhances autocatalytic corrosion processes – a phenomenon known for naturally occurring nanoscopic cracks in aluminum. This issue can be limited by usage of chloride-free buffers and dry-storage of the aluminum ZMW.
Best Regards,
Musab Tr
Musab A. Al-Tarawni thank you for the information, I came across an article that mentions Al, Au, Ag and Cr: why they should/shouldn't be used. So, essentially any metal thin film can be used for fabricating a ZMW?
Dear Arti Tyagi ,
In general, many researchers had used several metal thin films for ZMW. However, the expected outcomes of your study provide at least a hint of any thin metal film that you want to use. Many consideration should be in your mind during your research:
- The Availability of the literature on the selected material.
- The facilities of your lab for the fabrication process.
- The application field for your study, the material play a significant role in determining the outcome of your study.
pay attention to these considerations will help you make your simple, and effective research on ZWM.
Best Redards,
Musab Tr
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