title: p-n Semiconductor membrane for electrically tunable ion current rectification and filtering.
abstract: We show that a semiconductor membrane made of two thin layers of opposite (n- and p-) doping can perform electrically tunable ion current rectification and filtering in a nanopore. Our model is based on the solution of the 3D Poisson equation for the electrostatic potential in a double-cone nanopore combined with a transport model. It predicts that, for appropriate biasing of the membrane-electrolyte system, transitions from ohmic behavior to sharp rectification with vanishing leakage current are achievable. Furthermore, ion current rectifying and filtering regimes of the nanopore correspond to different charge states in the p-n membrane, which can be tuned with appropriate biasing of the n- and p- layers.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA. gracheva@uiuc.edu
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gracheva
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leburton
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D012666:Semiconductors
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial