title: Nucleobase-functionalized graphene nanoribbons for accurate high-speed DNA sequencing.
abstract: We propose a water-immersed nucleobase-functionalized suspended graphene nanoribbon as an intrinsically selective device for nucleotide detection. The proposed sensing method combines Watson-Crick selective base pairing with graphene's capacity for converting anisotropic lattice strain to changes in an electrical current at the nanoscale. Using detailed atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we study sensor operation at ambient conditions. We combine simulated data with theoretical arguments to estimate the levels of measurable electrical signal variation in response to strains and determine that the proposed sensing mechanism shows significant promise for realistic DNA sensing devices without the need for advanced data processing, or highly restrictive operational conditions.
authors.affiliation: Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. alex.smolyanitsky@nist.gov.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paulechka
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany and Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tsjerk A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wassenaar
authors.affiliation: Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. alex.smolyanitsky@nist.gov.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kroenlein
authors.affiliation: Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. alex.smolyanitsky@nist.gov.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kazakov
authors.affiliation: Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. alex.smolyanitsky@nist.gov.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smolyanitsky
mesh_terms: D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D006108:Graphite