Nanosized optoelectronic devices based on photoactivated proteins

Area of Science:

• Molecular nanoelectronics
• Biophysics
• Optoelectronics

Background:

• Molecular nanoelectronics offers potential to enhance silicon-based electronics with nanoscale biological or organic materials.
• Achieving functional Metal-Molecule-Metal junctions requires precise control over nanometric contacts with very low resistance.
• Nanogaps technology is crucial for creating electrode distances matching molecular sizes for device fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop optoelectronic devices by integrating photoactive proteins into nanogaps.
• To investigate the electrical characteristics and working principles of these molecular nanodevices.
• To demonstrate charge separation and photovoltage responses in protein-based nanostructures.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of nanogaps between gold electrodes.
• Insertion of photoactive proteins, specifically Reaction Centers (RC) and Bacteriorhodopsin (BR), into nanogaps using drop casting.
• Electrical characterization of the fabricated nanodevices.

Main Results:

• Successful integration of RC and BR proteins within gold nanogaps.
• Demonstration of charge separation in RC-based nanodevices upon applied voltage.
• Observation of photovoltage response in BR-based nanodevices activated by specific light wavelengths.

Conclusions:

• Nanogaps provide a viable platform for constructing molecular optoelectronic devices.
• Photoactive proteins like RC and BR can function effectively in nanogap-based architectures.
• The developed nanodevices exhibit promising charge separation and photovoltage functionalities for future applications.