Theoretical assessment of feasibility to sequence DNA through interlayer electronic tunneling transport at aligned nanopores in bilayer graphene

Abstract

Fast, cost effective, single-shot DNA sequencing could be the prelude of a new era in genetics. As DNA encodes the information for the production of proteins in all known living beings on Earth, determining the nucleobase sequences is the first and necessary step in that direction. Graphene-based nanopore devices hold great promise for next-generation DNA sequencing. In this work, we develop a novel approach for sequencing DNA using bilayer graphene to read the interlayer conductance through the layers in the presence of target nucleobases. Classical molecular dynamics simulations of DNA translocation through the pore were performed to trace the nucleobase trajectories and evaluate the interaction between the nucleobases and the nanopore. This interaction stabilizes the bases in different orientations, resulting in smaller fluctuations of the nucleobases inside the pore. We assessed the performance of a bilayer graphene nanopore setup for the purpose of DNA sequencing by employing density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green’s function method to investigate the interlayer conductance of nucleobases coupling simultaneously to the top and bottom graphene layers. The obtained conductance is significantly affected by the presence of DNA in the bilayer graphene nanopore, allowing us to analyze DNA sequences.

Topological line defects in graphene for applications in gas sensing

“…We thus note that it could be significantly enhanced by changing the gate voltage accessing regions where the defect is more metallic in nature. Finally, regarding selectivity, we note that the binding energy of NO 2 [20] is higher than that of O 2 [53]; this not only influences the residence time, but also the electronic transport [54], thus possibly leading to good selectivity as well.…”

DNA Sequencing by Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanopore: A Computational Study

“…The interaction energy profile observed in our simulation agrees with the force profile obtained from the ssDNA sequencing by the graphene nanopore [ 44 ]. From the experimental viewpoint, the interaction energy between the nucleobase and two-dimensional layers has a correlation with the conductance which shows a means to differentiate the four nucleobase types [ 45 ]. For example, the conductance fluctuation of pyrimidines is found to be much larger than that of purines, resulting from the interaction strength between the nucleobase and the nanopore.…”

Vibration assisted electron tunneling through nano-gaps in graphene nano-ribbons for amino-acid and peptide bond recognition

“…Hence graphene nano-gap devices have been proposed as well. [15][16][17][18][19] The authors of this work have recently proposed a nano-gap device based on an array of semi-innite graphene nano-ribbons (GNRs) where the central gap should be devoted to the detection of peptide bonds (PBs) along the peptide back-bone. 19 It was shown that using such kinds of GNR based devices (see Fig.…”