Letter abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 4, 297 - 301 (2009)
Published online: 22 March 2009 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2009.48
Subject Categories: Electronic properties and devices | Nanosensors and other devices
Tunnelling readout of hydrogen-bonding-based recognition
Shuai Chang1,2, Jin He2, Ashley Kibel1,2, Myeong Lee1, Otto Sankey1, Peiming Zhang2 & Stuart Lindsay1,2,3
Abstract
Hydrogen bonding has a ubiquitous role in electron transport1, 2 and in molecular recognition, with DNA base pairing being the best-known example3. Scanning tunnelling microscope images4 and measurements of the decay of tunnel current as a molecular junction is pulled apart by the scanning tunnelling microscope tip5 are sensitive to hydrogen-bonded interactions. Here, we show that these tunnel-decay signals can be used to measure the strength of hydrogen bonding in DNA base pairs. Junctions that are held together by three hydrogen bonds per base pair (for example, guanine–cytosine interactions) are stiffer than junctions held together by two hydrogen bonds per base pair (for example, adenine–thymine interactions). Similar, but less pronounced effects are observed on the approach of the tunnelling probe, implying that attractive forces that depend on hydrogen bonds also have a role in determining the rise of current. These effects provide new mechanisms for making sensors that transduce a molecular recognition event into an electronic signal.
- Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
- Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
Correspondence to: Stuart Lindsay1,2,3 e-mail: Stuart.Lindsay@asu.edu
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