title: Theoretical assessment of feasibility to sequence DNA through interlayer electronic tunneling transport at aligned nanopores in bilayer graphene.
abstract: Fast, cost effective, single-shot DNA sequencing could be the prelude of a new era in genetics. As DNA encodes the information for the production of proteins in all known living beings on Earth, determining the nucleobase sequences is the first and necessary step in that direction. Graphene-based nanopore devices hold great promise for next-generation DNA sequencing. In this work, we develop a novel approach for sequencing DNA using bilayer graphene to read the interlayer conductance through the layers in the presence of target nucleobases. Classical molecular dynamics simulations of DNA translocation through the pore were performed to trace the nucleobase trajectories and evaluate the interaction between the nucleobases and the nanopore. This interaction stabilizes the bases in different orientations, resulting in smaller fluctuations of the nucleobases inside the pore. We assessed the performance of a bilayer graphene nanopore setup for the purpose of DNA sequencing by employing density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function method to investigate the interlayer conductance of nucleobases coupling simultaneously to the top and bottom graphene layers. The obtained conductance is significantly affected by the presence of DNA in the bilayer graphene nanopore, allowing us to analyze DNA sequences.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physics, Faculty of Science, Nakhon Phanom University, Nakhon Phanom 48000, Thailand.|Nanotec-KKU Center of Excellence on Advanced Nanomaterials for Energy Production and Storage, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
authors.forename: Jariyanee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prasongkit
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Physical Chemistry Department, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gustavo T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Feliciano
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física Téorica, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, LuoYu Road, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Yuhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
authors.forename: Tanakorn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osotchan
authors.affiliation: Applied Materials Physics, Department of Materials and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.|Division of Materials Theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Rajeev
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahuja
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ralph H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Scheicher
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D058608:Nanopores; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D006108:Graphite; D004247:DNA