Fabrication of a ring structure at the aperture of a hole for the efficient suspension of a lipid bilayer

We propose a hydrophilic-raised-ring structure at the aperture of a hole for the efficient suspension of a lipid bilayer. This ring structure can be fabricated by using a combination consisting of a focused ion beam (FIB) and a hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) negative electron beam (EB) resist layer on a substrate. Negative EB resist at the aperture of a hole can be selectively reacted with a scattered gallium ion beam during the FIB milling process, and a ring structure can be obtained by employing a development process. Assessments of the cross section of the ring revealed a two-step structure. The suspension of lipid bilayers on the ring structures was assessed by observing the green fluorescence of calcein dye inside the holes. Our observation of fluorescent images showed that the lipid bilayers on the ring structures sealed the calcein solutions. This result indicates that our fabrication processes can be used to produce nanobio devices that need lipid bilayer suspensions.