Polymer translocation through extended patterned pores in two dimensions: scaling of the total translocation time

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to analyze how a flexible polymer translocates through patterned pores in two dimensions, revealing scaling laws for translocation time based on chain length and pore geometry.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed scaling analysis of polymer translocation through patterned pores, highlighting the effects of pore geometry and patterning on translocation dynamics.

Findings

Translocation time scales as N^3 with chain length.

Scaling function depends on pore length and patterning.

Patterned and unpatterned pores exhibit similar scaling exponents.

Abstract

We study the translocation of a flexible polymer through extended patterned pores using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We consider cylindrical and conical pore geometries that can be controlled by the angle of the pore apex $\alpha$. We obtained the average translocation time $\langle \tau \rangle$ for various chain lengths $N$ and the length of the pores $L_p$ for various values $\alpha$ and found that $\langle \tau \rangle$ scales as $\langle \tau \rangle \sim N^\gamma \mathcal{F}\left( L_p N^\phi \right)$ with exponents $\gamma = 3.00\pm0.05$ and $\phi = 1.50\pm0.05$ for both patterned and unpatterned pores.