Nanopore Fabrication by Heating Au Particles on Ceramic Substrates

We found that gold nanoparticles, when heated to close to their melting point on substrates of amorphous SiO2 or amorphous Si3N4, move perpendicularly into the substrate. Dependent on applied temperatures, particles can become buried or leave nanopores of extreme aspect ratio (diameter congruent to 25 nm, length up to 800 nm). The process can be understood as driven by gold evaporation and controlled by capillary forces and can be controlled by temperature programming and substrate choice.