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Charge Transport in DNA-Based Devices

  • Chapter
Book cover Long-Range Charge Transfer in DNA II

Part of the book series: Topics in Current Chemistry ((TOPCURRCHEM,volume 237))

Abstract

Charge migration along DNA molecules has attracted scientific interest for over half a century. Reports on possible high rates of charge transfer between donor and acceptor through the DNA, obtained in the last decade from solution chemistry experiments on large numbers of molecules, triggered a series of direct electrical transport measurements through DNA single molecules, bundles, and networks. These measurements are reviewed and presented here. From these experiments we conclude that electrical transport is feasible in short DNA molecules, in bundles and networks, but blocked in long single molecules that are attached to surfaces. The experimental background is complemented by an account of the theoretical/computational schemes that are applied to study the electronic and transport properties of DNA-based nanowires. Examples of selected applications are given, to show the capabilities and limits of current theoretical approaches to accurately describe the wires, interpret the transport measurements, and predict suitable strategies to enhance the conductivity of DNA nanostructures.

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Abbreviations

Ade (A):

Adenine

Cyt (C):

Cytosine

Gua (G):

Guanine

Thy (T):

Thymine

1D:

One-dimensional

AFM :

Atomic force microscope

BLYP :

Becke–Lee–Yang–Parr (GGA)

BZ :

Brillouin zone

CNT :

Carbon nanotube

DFT :

Density functional theory

DOS :

Density of states

EFM :

Electrostatic force microscope

GGA :

Generalized gradient approximation

HF :

Hartree–Fock

HOMO :

Highest occupied molecular orbital

LDA:

Local density approximation

LEEPS :

Low-energy electron point source

LUMO :

Lowest unoccupied molecular orbital

MP2 :

Møller–Plesset 2nd order

NMR :

Nuclear magnetic resonance

PBE :

Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (GGA)

SEM :

Scanning electron microscope

SFM :

Scanning force microscope

STM :

Scanning tunneling microscope

TB :

Tight binding

TEM :

Transmission electron microscope

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Acknowledgements

Funding by the EU through grant FET-IST-2001-38951 is acknowledged. DP is thankful to Cees Dekker and his group, with whom experiment [14] was done, to Joshua Jortner, Avraham Nitzan, Julio Gomez-Herrrero, Christian Schönenberger, and Hezy Cohen for fruitful discussions about the conductivity in DNA and critical reading of the manuscript. DP research is funded by: The First foundation, The Israel Science Foundation, The German-Israel Foundation, and Hebrew University Grants. GC acknowledges the collaboration with Luis Craco with whom part of the work reviewed was done. The critical reading of Miriam del Valle, Rafael Gutierrez, and Juyeon Yi is also gratefully acknowledged. GC research has been funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. RDF is extremely grateful to Arrigo Calzolari, Anna Garbesi, and Elisa Molinari for fruitful collaborations and discussions on topics related to this chapter, and for a critical reading of the manuscript. RDF research is funded by INFM through PRA-SINPROT, and through the Parallel Computing Committee for allocation of computing time at CINECA, and by MIUR through FIRB-NOMADE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University, 91904, Jerusalem , Israel

    Danny Porath

  2. Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040, Regensburg, Germany

    Gianaurelio Cuniberti

  3. INFM Center on nanoStructures and bioSystems at Surfaces (S3), Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/A, 41100 , Modena, Italy

    Rosa Di Felice

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  1. Danny Porath
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  3. Rosa Di Felice
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Correspondence to Danny Porath .

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G.B. Schuster

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Porath, D., Cuniberti, G., Di Felice, R. Charge Transport in DNA-Based Devices. In: Schuster, G. (eds) Long-Range Charge Transfer in DNA II. Topics in Current Chemistry, vol 237. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/b94477

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/b94477

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-20131-1

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