Suspended CNT-Based FET sensor for ultrasensitive and label-free detection of DNA hybridization

A suspended carbon nanotube (SCNT)-based field effective transistor (SCNT-FET), which was fabricated by utilizing the surface tension of liquid silver to suspend a CNT between two Pd electrodes, was proposed for the detection of DNA hybridization. Benefits from the separation between the CNT and the substrates could be observed; namely, the conductivity of a SCNT-FET was much higher (two orders of magnitude) than that of a FET based on an unsuspended CNT and about 50% sensing surface of CNT was freed from substrate. The Slater-Koster tight-binding method was adopted for geometry optimization and transport property calculation of the SCNT bound with DNA. The result showed that the conductance (G = 1/R) of the SCNT decreased in order with the binding of single-stranded DNA (SSDNA, probe DNA) and double-stranded DNA (DSDNA) and that the ability of DSDNA to weaken the conductivity of the SCNT was several times higher than that of SSDNA. SEM and Raman spectroscopy were used to demonstrate that DNA could be bound successfully onto the SCNT using a 1-pyrenebutanoic acid succinimidyl ester (PBASE) as a linkage. Ultra-high sensitivity detection of DNA [with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 10 aM] was obtained using such an SCNT-FET, which showed a lower value than that of a previously reported FET DNA biosensor whose sensing materials were in direct contact with the substrate.