This letter presents the observation of stable and reproducible electronic conduction through double stranded (ds) DNA molecules in a nominally dry state. Stable conduction was realized by immobilizing 15 base-pair guanine:cytosine rich dsDNA within gold nanogap junctions, stabilizing the dsDNA with a polycation, and characterizing in nitrogen. In air, the current levels decrease with successive voltage scans likely due to oxidation of the guanine bases under bias. In nitrogen, reproducible current-voltage traces are observed and the current levels at specific bias points are stable with time. The stability allows comprehensive electrical studies and could enable conductance-based DNA sensors.

1.
Z.
Hermon
,
S.
Caspi
, and
E.
Ben-Jacob
,
Europhys. Lett.
43
,
482
(
1998
).
2.
E.
Ben-Jacob
,
Z.
Hermon
, and
S.
Caspi
,
Phys. Lett. A
263
,
199
(
1999
).
3.
D.
Porath
,
A.
Bezryadin
,
S.
de Vries
, and
C.
Dekker
,
Nature (London)
403
,
635
(
2000
).
4.
B. Q.
Xu
,
P. M.
Zhang
,
X. L.
Li
, and
N. J.
Tao
,
Nano Lett.
4
,
1105
(
2004
).
5.
A. J.
Storm
,
J.
van Noort
,
S.
de Vries
, and
C.
Dekker
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
79
,
3881
(
2001
).
6.
Y.
Okahata
,
T.
Kobayashi
,
K.
Tanaka
, and
M.
Shimomura
,
J. Am. Chem. Soc.
120
,
6165
(
1998
).
7.
S. M.
Iqbal
,
G.
Balasundaram
,
S.
Ghosh
,
D. E.
Bergstrom
, and
R.
Bashir
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
86
,
153901
(
2005
).
8.
A. K.
Mahapatro
,
K. J.
Jeong
,
G. U.
Lee
, and
D. B.
Janes
,
Nanotechnology
18
,
195202
(
2007
).
9.
C.
Dekker
and
M.
Ratner
,
Phys. World
14
(
1
),
29
(
2001
).
10.
A. K.
Mahapatro
,
S.
Ghosh
, and
D. B.
Janes
,
IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol.
5
,
232
(
2006
).
11.
A. K.
Mahapatro
,
A.
Scott
,
A.
Manning
, and
D. B.
Janes
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
88
,
151917
(
2006
).
12.
A. K.
Mahapatro
,
J.
Ying
,
T.
Ren
, and
D. B.
Janes
,
Nano Lett.
8
,
2131
(
2008
).
13.
A.
Sarai
and
M.
Saito
,
Int. J. Quantum Chem.
25
,
527
(
1984
).
14.
R. L.
Ornstein
and
R.
Rein
,
Biopolymers
17
,
2341
(
1978
).
15.
P. D.
McCormack
and
C.
Swenberg
,
Mol. Eng.
8
,
289
(
1998
).
16.
T.
Schindler
and
E.
Nordmeier
,
Macromol. Chem. Phys.
198
,
1943
(
1997
).
17.
L. M.
Demers
,
C. A.
Mirkin
,
R. C.
Mucic
,
R. A.
Reynolds
 III
,
R. L.
Letsinger
,
R.
Elghanian
, and
G.
Viswanadham
,
Anal. Chem.
72
,
5535
(
2000
).
18.
G. E.
Poirier
and
E. D.
Pylant
,
Science
272
,
1145
(
1996
).
19.
T.
Lindahl
,
Nature (London)
362
,
709
(
1993
).
20.
G. W.
Hsu
,
M.
Ober
,
T.
Carell
, and
L. S.
Beese
,
Nature (London)
431
,
217
(
2004
).
You do not currently have access to this content.