Interband π Plasmon of Graphene Nanopores: A Potential Sensing Mechanism for DNA Nucleotides

Abstract

We propose a potential sensing mechanism for DNA nucleotides by using interband π surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of graphene nanopore. The SPR and field enhancement properties are investigated by employing discrete dipole approximation (DDA) and finitedifference-time-domain (FDTD) methods, respectively. For graphene nanopores smaller than 10 nm in length, increasing the pore diameter redshifts the SPR peak wavelength and for larger sheets, it is rather unchanged by variation of the pore diameter. Presentation of a single nucleotide to the pore significantly changes SPR properties of the graphene nanopore and each nucleotide has a unique SPR properties. Each nucleotide induces 2 nm to 12 nm shift in the peak wavelengths of each SPR modes and if we consider simultaneously all the modes, type of the presented DNA nucleotide can be clearly determined. Our results show that the small-sizesensitive interband π plasmon in graphene nanopore is probably applicable as a new sensing mechanism for DNA nucleotides.

Petahertz-frequency plasmons in graphene nanopore and their application to nanoparticle sensing

“…We obtain longitudinal and transverse modes by setting the direction of the x axis and the polarization direction (direction of the electric eld) to zero or 90 , respectively ( Figure 2). Our simulation results are provided for the transverse mode, because in monolayer graphene, the transverse mode dominates and the longitudinal mode can be neglected [11,12,24]. As shown in Figure 4, the SPR spectra have one dominant mode (M 1 ) and corresponding energy decreases from 15.7 to 14.1 eV when the nanosheet length increases from 1 to 14 nm.…”

“…The plasmon belongs to the UV-visible (150 to 400 nm) region of light while interband + plasmon appears at the petahertz frequencies ( 80 nm). The interband plasmon properties of graphene nanodiscs and nanosheets are investigated by the DDA method [11,12,25]. The saturation energy of the + plasmon is 14.09 eV and for plasmon, it is 4.35 eV.…”

“…Recently, graphene has been utilized as pressure sensor [8], dipolar-antenna in the terahertz frequency range [9], and membrane for DNA translocation detection [10]. Surface Plasmon Resonances (SPR) and plasmon propagation in graphene have attracted attention due to their great application in nano-photonics, biology, sensing, gap detection, and DNA sensing [8,[11][12][13]. Di erent types of the plasmon in graphene are: (1) collective-intraband excitation of the conductance electrons with 0-3 eV energy, (2) collective-interband excitations of the valance electrons with 4-12 eV energy, and (3) collective-interband excitations of all valence electrons ( + plasmon) with 14-33 eV energy [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…The SPR properties of interband plasmon of monolayer and multilayer graphene nanodiscs show strong small-size and eld-enhancement e ects [24]. Also, the interband plasmon resonance behaviour for the graphene nanosheets and graphene nanopores, and their application to DNA nucleotide sensing have been investigated [11,12]. The SPR properties of the interband plasmons in graphene nanopore can be used in near future as a new methodology for DNA sequencing or other single-molecule detection mechanisms [11,12].…”

“…Also, the interband plasmon resonance behaviour for the graphene nanosheets and graphene nanopores, and their application to DNA nucleotide sensing have been investigated [11,12]. The SPR properties of the interband plasmons in graphene nanopore can be used in near future as a new methodology for DNA sequencing or other single-molecule detection mechanisms [11,12]. This is because of the fact that interband and + plasmons in graphene are strongly localized and plasmon wavelength is about 0 =200, where 0 is the free-space wavelength equal to 250 and 80 nm for the interband and + plasmons in graphene, respectively.…”