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Graphene as a subnanometre trans-electrode membrane

Nature volume 467, pages 190–193 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Isolated, atomically thin conducting membranes of graphite, called graphene, have recently been the subject of intense research with the hope that practical applications in fields ranging from electronics to energy science will emerge1. The atomic thinness, stability and electrical sensitivity of graphene motivated us to investigate the potential use of graphene membranes and graphene nanopores to characterize single molecules of DNA in ionic solution. Here we show that when immersed in an ionic solution, a layer of graphene becomes a new electrochemical structure that we call a trans-electrode. The trans-electrode’s unique properties are the consequence of the atomic-scale proximity of its two opposing liquid–solid interfaces together with graphene’s well known in-plane conductivity. We show that several trans-electrode properties are revealed by ionic conductance measurements on a graphene membrane that separates two aqueous ionic solutions. Although our membranes are only one to two atomic layers2,3 thick, we find they are remarkable ionic insulators with a very small stable conductance that depends on the ion species in solution. Electrical measurements on graphene membranes in which a single nanopore has been drilled show that the membrane’s effective insulating thickness is less than one nanometre. This small effective thickness makes graphene an ideal substrate for very high resolution, high throughput nanopore-based single-molecule detectors. The sensitivity of graphene’s in-plane electronic conductivity to its immediate surface environment and trans-membrane solution potentials will offer new insights into atomic surface processes and sensor development opportunities.

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Figure 1: Diagram of our experiments.
Figure 2: Trans-electrode I – V curves.
Figure 3: Graphene nanopore conductance.
Figure 4: Average nanopore current blockades versus blockade duration during DNA translocation.
Figure 5: Geometric resolution.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by a grant (number R01 HG003703) to J.A.G. and D.B. from the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    S. Garaj & J. A. Golovchenko

  2. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    W. Hubbard & J. A. Golovchenko

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    A. Reina

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    J. Kong

  5. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    D. Branton

Authors
  1. S. Garaj
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Contributions

Graphene samples were grown by J.K. and A.R. Experiments and calculations were performed by S.G. Other activities, including data interpretation, conclusions and manuscript writing, were performed collaboratively at Harvard University by S.G., W.H., D.B. and J.A.G.

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Correspondence to S. Garaj or J. A. Golovchenko.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Garaj, S., Hubbard, W., Reina, A. et al. Graphene as a subnanometre trans-electrode membrane. Nature 467, 190–193 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09379

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