title: Photoelectric response of polarization sensitive bacteriorhodopsin films.
abstract: Polarization sensitivity is introduced into oriented bacteriorhodopsin (BR) films through a photochemical bleaching process, which chemically modifies the structure of the purple membrane by breaking the intrinsic symmetry of the membrane-bound BR trimers. The resulting photovoltage generated in an indium-tin oxide (ITO)/BR/ITO detector is found to be anisotropic with respect to cross-polarized probe beams. A model, based on the polarization dependent photoselection of the BR molecules qualitatively explains the photochemical bleaching process and the observed anisotropic response. The effect reported here can be used to construct a polarization sensitive BR-based bio-photoreceiver.
authors.affiliation: W.M. Keck Center for Molecular Electronics & Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Birge
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stickrath
authors.forename: Pallab
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000528:radiation effects; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010777:Photochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D018717:Purple Membrane / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins