Professor Ron Naaman and his research team in the Chemical Physics Department of the Weizmann Institute in Rechovot have developed a way to create nanotransistors that is the most suitable to date for large scale production and the development of a variety of industrial applications.
Their system involves the construction of carbon nanotube "bridges" spanning a silicon surface between two gold contacts. Tiny spoonfuls of phosphates, sugars and nucleotides were used to create unique strands of DNA programmed to form attachments with carbon nanotubes. Next, they used the same method to create another set of DNA strands that would hook up to miniscule electrical contacts made of gold, anchored to the silicon surface. Afterwards, they added the first group of ingredients to the second and mixed well. The DNA strands fastened to the carbon nanotubes latched on to the strands, attached to the gold contacts.
Similar nanobridges between electrical contacts made of conducting materials such as gold may one day form the basis of tiny nanotransistors that will be used to build tiny, fast and efficient electronic circuits. In addition, the use of DNA may allow other biological molecules to be integrated into the circuit design that would interact with the DNA strands, thus modulating the behavior of the device.
In their experiment, the results of which were published in Applied Physics Letters, the team managed to create nanotransistors with 10 percent of the available gold contact pairs, a figure they are currently working to improve.
Their system involves the construction of carbon nanotube "bridges" spanning a silicon surface between two gold contacts. Tiny spoonfuls of phosphates, sugars and nucleotides were used to create unique strands of DNA programmed to form attachments with carbon nanotubes. Next, they used the same method to create another set of DNA strands that would hook up to miniscule electrical contacts made of gold, anchored to the silicon surface. Afterwards, they added the first group of ingredients to the second and mixed well. The DNA strands fastened to the carbon nanotubes latched on to the strands, attached to the gold contacts.
Professor Ron Naaman and his research team
Similar nanobridges between electrical contacts made of conducting materials such as gold may one day form the basis of tiny nanotransistors that will be used to build tiny, fast and efficient electronic circuits. In addition, the use of DNA may allow other biological molecules to be integrated into the circuit design that would interact with the DNA strands, thus modulating the behavior of the device.
In their experiment, the results of which were published in Applied Physics Letters, the team managed to create nanotransistors with 10 percent of the available gold contact pairs, a figure they are currently working to improve.