Gleb Finkelstein

Connecting the Nanodots: Programmable Nanofabrication of Fused Metal Shapes on DNA Templates

We present a novel method for producing complex metallic nanostructures of programmable design. DNA origami templates, modified to have DNA binding sites with a uniquely coded sequence, were adsorbed onto silicon dioxide substrates. Gold nanoparticles functionalized with the cDNA sequence were then attached. These seed nanoparticles were later enlarged, and even fused, by electroless deposition of silver. Using this method, we constructed a variety of metallic structures, including rings, pairs of bars, and H shapes.

Optimized fabrication and electrical analysis of silver nanowires templated on DNA molecules

We report on the electrical conductivity measurement of silver nanowires templated on native λ-bacteriophage and synthetic double-stranded DNA molecules. After an electroless chemical deposition, the metallized DNA wires have a diameter down to 15nm and are among the thinnest metallic nanowires available to date. Two-terminal I-V measurements demonstrating various conduction behaviors are presented. DNA templated functional nanowires may, in the near future, be targeted to connect at specific locations on larger-scale circuits and represent a potential breakthrough in the self-assembly of nanometer-scale structures for electronics layout.

Electronic nanostructures templated on self-assembled DNA scaffolds

We report on the self-assembly of one- and two-dimensional DNA scaffolds, which serve as templates for the targeted deposition of ordered nanoparticles and molecular arrays .T he DNA nanostructures are easy to reprogram, and we demonstrate two distinct conformations: sheets and tubes. The DNA tubes and individual DNA molecules are metallized in solution to produce ultra-thin metal wires. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Rhodium Nanoparticles for Ultraviolet Plasmonics

The nonoxidizing catalytic noble metal rhodium is introduced for ultraviolet plasmonics. Planar tripods of 8 nm Rh nanoparticles, synthesized by a modified polyol reduction method, have a calculated local surface plasmon resonance near 330 nm. By attaching p-aminothiophenol, local field-enhanced Raman spectra and accelerated photodamage were observed under near-resonant ultraviolet illumination, while charge transfer simultaneously increased fluorescence for up to 13 min. The combined local field enhancement and charge transfer demonstrate essential steps toward plasmonically enhanced ultraviolet photocatalysis.

Supercurrent in the quantum Hall regime.

Making a graphene super-edge In superconductors, the electrical current is carried by “Cooper pairs,” formed out of an electron and a hole. This supercurrent will happily cross a thin barrier between two superconductors. But what if a strong magnetic field were applied at the barrier, forcing charge carriers to travel only along the edge of the barrier? Amet et al. explored this regime in a sample consisting of two superconducting electrodes and a graphene barrier under magnetic fields of up to 2 tesla (see the Perspective by Mason). Their transport measurements were consistent with a model in which the supercurrent was carried by the edge states in graphene. Science, this issue p. 966; see also p. 891 Transport measurements show that quantum Hall edge states carry the supercurrent in a graphene Josephson junction. A promising route for creating topological states and excitations is to combine superconductivity and the quantum Hall (QH) effect. Despite this potential, signatures of superconductivity in the QH regime remain scarce, and a superconducting current through a QH weak link has been challenging to observe. We demonstrate the existence of a distinct supercurrent mechanism in encapsulated graphene samples contacted by superconducting electrodes, in magnetic fields as high as 2 tesla. The observation of a supercurrent in the QH regime marks an important step in the quest for exotic topological excitations, such as Majorana fermions and parafermions, which may find applications in fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Intracellular Neural Recording with Pure Carbon Nanotube Probes

The computational complexity of the brain depends in part on a neuron’s capacity to integrate electrochemical information from vast numbers of synaptic inputs. The measurements of synaptic activity that are crucial for mechanistic understanding of brain function are also challenging, because they require intracellular recording methods to detect and resolve millivolt- scale synaptic potentials. Although glass electrodes are widely used for intracellular recordings, novel electrodes with superior mechanical and electrical properties are desirable, because they could extend intracellular recording methods to challenging environments, including long term recordings in freely behaving animals. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can theoretically deliver this advance, but the difficulty of assembling CNTs has limited their application to a coating layer or assembly on a planar substrate, resulting in electrodes that are more suitable for in vivo extracellular recording or extracellular recording from isolated cells. Here we show that a novel, yet remarkably simple, millimeter-long electrode with a sub-micron tip, fabricated from self-entangled pure CNTs can be used to obtain intracellular and extracellular recordings from vertebrate neurons in vitro and in vivo. This fabrication technology provides a new method for assembling intracellular electrodes from CNTs, affording a promising opportunity to harness nanotechnology for neuroscience applications.

Single-electron transistors made by chemical patterning of silicon dioxide substrates and selective deposition of gold nanoparticles

We describe a method to pattern SiO2 surfaces with colloidal gold nanoparticles by e-beam lithography and selective nanoparticle deposition. The simple technique allows us to deposit nanoparticles in continuous straight lines, just one nanoparticle wide and many nanoparticles long. We contact the prepositioned nanoparticles with metal leads to form single electron transistors. The Coulomb blockade pattern surprisingly does not show the parasitic “offset charges” at low temperatures, indicating relatively little surface contamination.

SU(2) and SU(4) Kondo effects in carbon nanotube quantum dots

Received 26 March 2007; published 25 June 2007We study the SU 4 Kondo effect in carbon nanotube quantum dots, where doubly degenerate orbitals formfour-electron “shells.” The SU 4 Kondo behavior is investigated for one, two, and three electrons in thetopmost shell. While the Kondo state of two electrons is quenched by a magnetic field, in the case of an oddnumber of electrons two types of SU 2 Kondo effect may survive. Namely, the spin SU 2 state is realized ina magnetic field parallel to the nanotube inducing primarily orbital splitting . Application of the perpendicularfield inducing Zeeman splitting results in the

Importance of diameter control on selective synthesis of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes.

The coexistence of semiconducting and metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) during synthesis is one of the major bottlenecks that prevent their broad application for the next-generation nanoelectronics. Herein, we present more understanding and demonstration of the growth of highly enriched semiconducting SWNTs (s-SWNTs) with a narrow diameter distribution. An important fact discovered in our experiments is that the selective elimination of metallic SWNTs (m-SWNTs) from the mixed arrays grown on quartz is diameter-dependent. Our method emphasizes controlling the diameter distribution of SWNTs in a narrow range where m-SWNTs can be effectively and selectively etched during growth. In order to achieve narrow diameter distribution, uniform and stable Fe-W nanoclusters were used as the catalyst precursors. About 90% of as-prepared SWNTs fall into the diameter range 2.0-3.2 nm. Electrical measurement results on individual SWNTs confirm that the selectivity of s-SWNTs is ∼95%. The present study provides an effective strategy for increasing the purity of s-SWNTs via controlling the diameter distribution of SWNTs and adjusting the etchant concentration. Furthermore, by carefully comparing the chirality distributions of Fe-W-catalyzed and Fe-catalyzed SWNTs under different water vapor concentrations, the relationship between the diameter-dependent and electronic-type-dependent etching mechanisms was investigated.

Phase diffusion in graphene-based Josephson junctions.

We report on graphene-based Josephson junctions with contacts made from lead. The high transition temperature of this superconductor allows us to observe the supercurrent branch at temperatures up to ∼2 K, at which point we can detect a small, but nonzero, resistance. We attribute this resistance to the phase diffusion mechanism, which has not been yet identified in graphene. By measuring the resistance as a function of temperature and gate voltage, we can further characterize the nature of the electromagnetic environment and dissipation in our samples.