Affiliations 

  • 1 Low Dimensional Materials Research Centre, Department of Physics, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sensors (Basel), 2012;12(3):3578-3586.
PMID: 22737025 DOI: 10.3390/s120303578

Abstract

This work presents an experimental study of gold-DNA-gold structures in the presence and absence of external magnetic fields with strengths less than 1,200.00 mT. The DNA strands, extracted by standard method were used to fabricate a Metal-DNA-Metal (MDM) structure. Its electric behavior when subjected to a magnetic field was studied through its current-voltage (I-V) curve. Acquisition of the I-V curve demonstrated that DNA as a semiconductor exhibits diode behavior in the MDM structure. The current versus magnetic field strength followed a decreasing trend because of a diminished mobility in the presence of a low magnetic field. This made clear that an externally imposed magnetic field would boost resistance of the MDM structure up to 1,000.00 mT and for higher magnetic field strengths we can observe an increase in potential barrier in MDM junction. The magnetic sensitivity indicates the promise of using MDM structures as potential magnetic sensors.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.