Flow conductance of a single nanohole.
The mass flow conductance of single nanoholes with a diameter ranging from 75 to 100 nm was measured using mass spectrometry. For all nanoholes, a smooth crossover is observed between single-particle statistical flow (effusion) and the collective viscous flow emanating from the formation of a continuum. This crossover is shown to occur when the gas mean free path matches the size of the nanohole diameter. As a consequence of the pinhole geometry, the breakdown of the Poiseuille approximation is observed in the power-law temperature exponent of the measured conductance.
Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, H3A 2T8, Canada.
M
M
Savard
C
C
Tremblay-Darveau
G
G
Gervais