Fabrication of nanopores in wax using laser-induced shrinking

We developed a simple laser heating induced shrinking technique for making plastic nanopore bio-sensing devices. Our technique is capable of shrinking thermoplastic pores of diameters up to several hundred micrometers to a few nanometers. We have made nanopore devices by applying this technique to Apiezon W wax (thermoplastics) micropores. Our DNA translocation experiments with$\,48\,\,kilobasepairs\,(kbp)$double-stranded $\lambda \,$DNA ($\lambda \,$dsDNA) have yielded convincing results of the functionality of these devices as biomolecular nanosensors.