Enhancement of the Electrical Properties of DNA Molecular Wires through Incorporation of Perylenediimide DNA Base Surrogates

Abstract

DNA has long been viewed as a promising material for nanoscale electronics, in part due to its well‐ordered arrangement of stacked, pi‐conjugated base pairs. Within this context, a number of studies have investigated how structural changes, backbone modifications, or artificial base substitutions affect the conductivity of DNA. Herein, we present a comparative study of the electrical properties of both well‐matched and perylene‐3,4,9,10‐tetracarboxylic diimide (PTCDI)‐containing DNA molecular wires that bridge nanoscale gold electrodes. By performing current‐voltage measurements for such devices, we find that the incorporation of PTCDI DNA base surrogates within our macromolecular constructs leads to an approximately 6‐fold enhancement in the observed current levels. Together, these findings suggest that PTCDI DNA base surrogates may enable the preparation of designer DNA‐based nanoscale electronic components.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2019
Source ID
10.1002/cplu.201800661

Entities

People

  • Alon A. Gorodetsky
  • Amir Mazaheripour
  • Andrew Bartlett
  • Anthony Burke
  • David J. Dibble
  • David W Taylor
  • Dimithree Kahanda
  • Jason D. Slinker
  • Jonah‐micah Jocson
  • Kuo‐yao Lin
  • Majid Minary‐jolandan
  • Marc A. Mcwilliams
  • Nolan B. King

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • National Science Foundation
  • Office of Naval Research
  • University of California, Irvine
  • University of Texas at Dallas

Tags

Readers

  • Molecular Genetics
  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics