Dynamically resizable nanometre-scale apertures for molecular sensing

An easily fabricated resizable nanometre-scale aperture provides a novel class of electrical device that can be deployed as a tunable molecular sensor. Here, we demonstrate that the metered penetration of an elastomeric membrane with a sharp probe yields an aperture that, by reversible adjustment of the membrane, provides a spectrum of geometries suitable for single particle analysis. We describe such an aperture optimised in situ for the detection and controlled gating of DNA molecules.