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Technical University of Munich

Bio-molecular electronics

Left: a) Optical micrograph of a bacteriorhodopsin (bR) junction using a eutectic GaIn tip as top contact. b) Optical micrograph of two permanent junctions. c) Schematic side view of a triple bR junction. d) Cross-sectional TEM image of a junction as in (b), comprising a bR vesicle monolayer. e) Close-up of an electrostatically bound bR vesicle tri-layer as in (c). Right: Conductance of substrate (TiN/AhexPA) and of mono-, bi- and tri-layer bR junctions at room temperature, vs. layer thickness d. From: D. Chryssikos et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. 34, 2408110 (2024). Published open access - CC BY 4.0.

We experimentally investigate charge transport through functional organic and biological molecules. Proteins, in particular, contribute to a manifold of biological tasks, many of them accompanied by electronic charge transfer. Remarkably, when investigated in the dry state, most proteins still efficiently conduct electricity over long distances (several tens of nanometers). Measured conductances typically show a surprisingly weak temperature and often exponential length dependence.      

 

References:

  • Domenikos Chryssikos, Jerry A. Fereiro, Jonathan Rojas, Sudipta Bera, Defne Tüzün, Evanthia Kounoupioti, Rui N. Pereira, Christian Pfeiffer, Ali Khoshouei, Hendrik Dietz, Mordechai Sheves, David Cahen, Marc Tornow, Mono-Exponential Current Attenuation with Distance Across 16 nm Thick Bacteriorhodopsin Multilayers, Adv. Funct. Mater., 2408110 (2024). 

  • Sudipta Bera, Jerry A. Fereiro, Shailendra K. Saxena, Domenikos Chryssikos, Koushik Majhi, Tatyana Bendikov, Lior Sepunaru, David Ehre, Marc Tornow, Israel Pecht, Ayelet Vilan, Mordechai Sheves, and David Cahen, Near-Temperature-Independent Electron Transport Well beyond Expected Quantum Tunneling Range via Bacteriorhodopsin Multilayers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145, 24820–24835 (2023).

  • Jonathan Rojas, Zhe Wang, Feng Liu, Jerry A. Fereiro, Domenikos Chryssikos, Thomas Dittrich, Dario Leister, David Cahen, Marc Tornow, Current Rectification Via Photosystem I Monolayers Induced by Their Orientation on Hydrophilic Self-Assembled Monolayers on Titanium Nitride, in 2024 IEEE 24th International Conference on Nanotechnology (NANO), 266-271 (2024). 

  • Kai B. Saller, Kung-Ching Liao, Hubert Riedl, Paolo Lugli, Gregor Koblmüller, Jeffrey Schwartz, Marc Tornow, Contact Architecture Controls Conductance in Monolayer Devices, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12, 28446 (2020). 

  • Anshuma Pathak, Achyut Bora, Kung-Ching Liao, Hannah Schmolke, Antje Jung, Claus-Peter Klages, Jeffrey Schwartz, Marc Tornow, Disorder-derived, strong tunneling attenuation in bis-phosphonate monolayers, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 28, 094008 (2016)

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