Shedding light on the mechanism of asymmetric track etching: an interplay between latent track structure, etchant diffusion and osmotic flow

The method of producing single track-etched conical nanopores has received considerable attention and found many applications in diverse fields such as biosensing, nanofluidics, information processing and others. The performance of an asymmetric nanopore is largely determined by its geometry, especially by the size and shape of its tip. In this paper we reconstruct the profiles of so-called conical pores fabricated by asymmetric chemical etching of ion tracks in polymer foil. Conductometric measurements during etching and field emission scanning electron microscopy examinations of the resulting pores were employed in order to determine the pore geometry. We demonstrate that the pore constriction geometry evolves through a variety of configurations with advancing time after breakthrough. While immediately after breakthrough the pore tips are trumpet-shaped, further etching is strongly affected by osmotic effects which eventually lead to bullet-shaped pore tips. We evidence that the osmotic flow appearing during asymmetric track etching has a determinative effect on pore formation. A convection–diffusion model is presented that semi-quantitatively explains the effect of osmotic processes under asymmetric track etching conditions. In addition, a phenomenon of reagent contaminant precipitation in nanopores is reported and discussed.