Abstract
Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA based sensors, especially as humidity and alpha particle sensors have become quite popular in recent times due to flexible and highly optimizable nature of this fundamental biomaterial. Application of DNA electronics allow for more sensitive, accurate and effective sensors to be developed and fabricated. In this work, we examined the effect of different humidity conditions on the capacitive and resistive response of Aluminum (Al)/DNA/Al Schottky barrier structure when bombarded by time-dependent dosages of alpha particles. Based on current-voltage profiles, which demonstrated rectifying behaviours, Schottky diode parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance was calculated. Results observed generally pointed towards a decrease in the resistance value from the pristine to the radiated structures. It was also demonstrated that under the effect of humidity, the capacitance of the DNA thin film increased from 0.05894 to 92.736 nF, with rising relative humidity level. We also observed the occurrence of the hypersensitivity phenomena after alpha irradiation between 2 to 4 min by observing a drop in the series resistance, crucial in the study of DNA damage and repair mechanisms. These observations may also suggest the exciting possibility of utilizing Al/DNA/Al Schottky diodes as potentially sensitive humidity sensors.
Highlights
The quantity of water vapor in the atmosphere is called humidity, which affects all environmental biological and chemical processes
Tuukkanen et al observed that the conductivity of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of length 140 nm demonstrated insulating behaviors when placed in dry environment
Kleine-Ostmann et al and Yamahata et al observed and reported that the conductivity followed the increase in humidity level exponentially in double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and single-strand DNA due to the absorption of water molecules to the nanostructured film surface[17,18]
Summary
The quantity of water vapor in the atmosphere is called humidity, which affects all environmental biological and chemical processes. These include properties such as fast reaction time, physically and chemically stable active compounds, linear behavior, suitable detection range, good strength, resistance against pollution and cheaper fabrication cost[8,9,10,11] In this context, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has been reported to demonstrate properties useful for utilization as a humidity sensing material. Paul et al used DNA functionalized carbon nanotube (DFC) networks to develop a field effect transistor (FET)-based humidity sensor They reported that the charge transfer mechanism between the DNA and the water molecules caused the exponential variation of conductance of the DFC network with RH20. The experiments conducted in these studies have brought to light the possibility of interrogating various important DNA related processes especially damage and repair mechanisms based on the occurrence of the interesting effect of hypersensitivity
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