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A controlled electrical breakdown is used to produce efficient nanopore (NP) sensors. This phenomenon can be used to precisely fabricate these nanopore (NP) sensors through the membranes of the polydimethylsiloxane microarrays. This can be carried out, when localizing the electrical potential through a suitable microfluidic channel. Organic molecules, and other different protein-molecules, can be easily and precisely detected using this procedure referred to as controlled electrical breakdown technique.

A study of electrical breakdown across bias and top electrodes and its effect on the reliability of RF MEMS ohmic switches is presented. Tests under two situations were applied to study the electrical breakdown characteristic between bias and top electrodes, the first is the 10 h continuous stress under on state and the second is the voltage sweep from 0 V to 80 V. During the test, the switch ohmic contact resistance and current across bias and top electrodes were monitored simultaneously. Current across bias and top electrodes is observed in both of the two situations. Further analysis by FIB and SEM shows the breakdown damage on the surface of the bias electrode, which leads to the pull-in voltage shift of the RF MEMS ohmic switches.

The dependence of the electrical durability ${\tau }_{\mathrm{\text{E}}}$ (time from the application of constant voltage until breakdown) on the temperature $T$ (in the range of 77–300 K) at different values of the electric field strength $E$ of polymer compositions of polypropylene and low-density polyethylene (PP–LDPE) with different supramolecular structures (SMS) was measured. At elevated temperatures ($\sim$ above 200 K), the dependence of lg${\tau }_{\mathrm{\text{E}}}(T^{-1})$ is linear, indicating a thermofluctuational mechanism of breakdown preparation; at low temperatures ($\sim$ below 200 K) ${\tau }_{\mathrm{\text{E}}}$ does not depend on $T$, which will allow us to conclude about its tunneling mechanism. The transition temperature of the linear dependence of ${\tau }_{\mathrm{\text{E}}}$ on $T$ lies in the $\sim 200$ K range and depends on the value of the applied constant electric field.