Direct Electrical Detection of DNA Hybridization Based on Electrolyte-Gated Graphene Field-Effect Transistor

Abstract

DNA hybridization was electrically detected by graphene field-effect transistors. Probe DNA was modified on the graphene channel by a pyrene-based linker material. The transfer characteristic was shifted by the negative charges on the probe DNA, and the drain current was changed by the full-complementary DNA while no current change was observed after adding noncomplementary DNA, indicating that the graphene field-effect transistor detected the DNA hybridization. In addition, the number of DNAs was estimated by the simple plate capacitor model. As a result, one probe DNA was attached on the graphene channel per 10×10 nm2, indicating their high density functionalization. We estimated that 30% of probe DNA on the graphene channel was hybridized with 200 nM full-complementary DNA while only 5% of probe DNA was bound to the noncomplementary DNA. These results will help to pave the way for future biosensing applications based on graphene FETs.