Synthesis and application of electrically conductive gold nanowires on DNA using microwave approach

PHYS 428

Subrata Kundu, skundu@tamu.edu and Hong Liang. Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering, Texas A & M University, 3123, Engineering Physics Buildings, College Station, TX 77843
Highly specific chemical structure and the ability to self-assemble complex structures such as cubes, squares and ‘T' junctions has made DNA an attractive scaffold to make nanowires for interconnecting nanodevices, therefore advancing functional logic and memory circuits. In this presentation, we demonstrate a one-step microwave approach to make elctrically conductive gold nanowires of diameter 10-15 nm in solution and of 20-30 nm in immobilized DNA within 180 sec. The diameters of the wires are significantly larger than the 1-2 nm diameter of the double helix DNA. Electrical characterization shows that the Au nanowires are continuous, exhibiting Ohmic behavior with very low contact resistance. DNA-Au nanowires orchestrated with semiconducting Si nanowires, carbon nanotubes, or co-deposited with semiconducting nanoparticles can potentially lead to avenues for making complex single electron devices and Schottky nanodevices.