Abstract
A 2-μm-long Ni ion-chelated DNA molecule (Ni–DNA) was found for the first time to possess both memcapacitor and memristor properties; this Ni–DNA molecule is known as a dual memory circuit element (memelement). As a memelement, the state of impedance on Ni–DNA is proportional to the unit number of Ni ions containing a base pair complex (Ni–bp), which is determined by the previously applied external voltage. Interestingly, the impedances of Ni–DNA change in response to a change in the sweeping frequencies of the external bias. Our simulation results also indicate that changes in the effective resistance and capacitance of Ni–bp may be attributed to changes in the Ni ion redox species in the Ni–bp of a Ni–DNA nanowire. Therefore, the working mechanism of a nanowire-type memcapacitor and memristor is revealed. In summary, the Ni–DNA nanowire is shown to be a multi-dimensional memory device, whose memory state depends on the length of DNA and applied external voltages/frequencies.
Highlights
Memory circuit elements are multi-dimensional electronic devices with memory capability whose resistance, capacitance or inductance is determined by a previously applied voltage, charge, current or flux.[1]
Memelements have attracted a considerable amount of attention because of their potential applications in memory computing by storing and processing information on the same physical platform,[2] as envisioned by Feynman in 1959.3 only memristor devices have been developed and characterized,[4,5] while the memcapacitor and meminductor remain to be developed, due to a lack of functional materials or systems whose capacitance or inductance can be controlled by external variables
The electronic properties of these molecular electronic components can be controlled by external variables, they are undesirable for the development of memelements due to the instability of the scaffold of free metal atom/ion chains, the high thermionic barriers of the metal-SAM-metal structures[14] and the high probability of inter-molecular interactions
Summary
Memory circuit elements (memelements) are multi-dimensional electronic devices with memory capability whose resistance, capacitance or inductance is determined by a previously applied voltage, charge, current or flux.[1]. Nanowires with a high aspect ratio and large surface area-to-volume ratio have great potential for integrating with a variety of technologies, including solar cells,[15,16] fuel cells,[17] integrated circuits[18] and biosensing.[19,20] The conducting current of conventional nanowires is determined by various factors including the intrinsic composition, length, width[21,22] and chirality[23] of the wires and the external bias. DNA, a long linear biopolymer formed by the linkage of four types of nucleotides, can act as a nanowire after proper doping and exhibit unique electronic properties that are not observed in conventional nanowires.[18,20]
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