Nanocomposite approaches for enhancing the DC and photoconductivity of DNA films

Enhanced DC conductivity and photoconductivity of cationic carbazole tethered deoxyribonucleic acid (Cz-DNA) in film devices is achieved by incorporating mobility enhancers. An anthracene-based organic semiconductor (namely 4HPA-Ant) and the inorganic semiconductor cadmium sulfide (CdS) multipod nanocrystal (NC) were used as the mobility enhancers. Space charge limited current (SCLC) experiments show that hole mobility in CdS:Cz-DNA composite film is improved significantly, by about an order of magnitude, compared to the Cz-DNA film. Similarly, the DC conductivity of the composite film is slightly enhanced by 4HPA-Ant. The photoconductivity is also improved in the Cz-DNA composite, with both 4HPA-Ant and CdS multipod NCs. The enhancement in photocurrent is by more than an order of magnitude, as demonstrated by current-voltage (I-V) characterization using DNA composite photodetectors.