Carbon nanotube DNA sensor and sensing mechanism.

We report the fabrication of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) DNA sensors and the sensing mechanism. The simple and generic protocol for label-free detection of DNA hybridization is demonstrated with random sequence 15mer and 30mer oligonucleotides. DNA hybridization on gold electrodes, instead of on SWNT sidewalls, is mainly responsible for the acute electrical conductance change due to the modulation of energy level alignment between SWNT and gold contact.

Oxidation resistant germanium nanowires: bulk synthesis, long chain alkanethiol functionalization, and Langmuir-Blodgett assembly.

A simple method is developed to synthesize gram quantities of uniform Ge nanowires (GeNWs) by chemical vapor deposition on preformed, monodispersed seed particles loaded onto a high surface area silica support. Various chemical functionalization schemes are investigated to passivate the GeNW surfaces using alkanethiols and alkyl Grignard reactions. The stability of functionalization against oxidation of germanium for various alkyl chain lengths is elucidated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Surface chemistry and electrical properties of germanium nanowires.

Germanium nanowires (GeNWs) with p- and n-dopants were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and were used to construct complementary field-effect transistors (FETs). Electrical transport and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data are correlated to glean the effects of Ge surface chemistry to the electrical characteristics of GeNWs. Large hysteresis due to water molecules strongly bound to GeO(2) on GeNWs is revealed.

An investigation of the mechanisms of electronic sensing of protein adsorption on carbon nanotube devices.

It has been reported that protein adsorption on single-walled carbon nanotube field effect transistors (FETs) leads to appreciable changes in the electrical conductance of the devices, a phenomenon that can be exploited for label-free detection of biomolecules with a high potential for miniaturization. This work presents an elucidation of the electronic biosensing mechanisms with a newly developed microarray of nanotube "micromat" sensors. Chemical functionalization schemes are devised to block selected components of the devices from protein adsorption, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of methoxy(poly(ethylene glycol))thiol (mPEG-SH) on the metal electrodes (Au, Pd) and PEG-containing surfactants on the nanotubes.