Metallic conduction through engineered DNA: DNA nanoelectronic building blocks.
A novel way of engineering DNA molecules involves substituting the imino proton of each base pair with a metal ion to obtain M-DNA with altered electronic properties. We report the first direct evidence of metalliclike conduction through 15 microm long M-DNA. In contrast, measurements on B-DNA give evidence of semiconducting behavior with a few hundred meV band gap at room temperature. The drastic change of M-DNA conductivity points to a new degree of freedom in the development of future molecular electronics utilizing DNA, such as creating all-DNA junction devices for use as nanoelectronic building blocks.
Rakitin
A
A
Division of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
Aich
P
P
Papadopoulos
C
C
Kobzar
Y
Y
Vedeneev
A S
AS
Lee
J S
JS
Xu
J M
JM
D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D015032:Zinc / Q000737:chemistry*
D004279:DNA, Viral; D015032:Zinc