Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: The fabrication of nanopores in atomically thin graphene has recently been achieved, and translocation of DNA has been demonstrated. Taken together with an earlier proposal to use graphene nanogaps for the purpose of DNA sequencing, this approach can resolve the technical problem of achieving single-base resolution in electronic nucleobase detection. We have theoretically evaluated the performance of a graphene nanogap setup for the purpose of whole-genome sequencing, by employing density functional theory and the nonequilibrium Green's function method to investigate the transverse conductance properties of nucleotides inside the gap. In particular, we determined the electrical tunneling current variation at finite bias due to changes in the nucleotides orientation and lateral position. Although the resulting tunneling current is found to fluctuate over several orders of magnitude, a distinction between the four DNA bases appears possible, thus ranking the approach promising for rapid whole-genome sequencing applications.
Source: Nano Letters
DOI: 10.1021/nl200147x
Authors: Jariyanee Prasongkit, Anton Grigoriev, Biswarup Pathak, Rajeev Ahuja, Ralph H. Scheicher
Institutions: Uppsala University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2151252853