Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 31, 2025

Assembly and Characterization of Biomolecular Memristors Consisting of Ion Channel-doped Lipid Membranes
Published on: March 9, 2019
Negative differential resistance, rectification, tunable peak-current position and switching effects in an
Alireza Kokabi1, Shoeib Babaee Touski1, Amir Mamdouh1
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Hamedan University of Technology, Hamedan, Iran.
This study explores an alanine amino-acid based molecular electronic device. The molecular rectifier shows potential for use in bio-electronic applications, exhibiting polarity-dependent current-voltage characteristics.
Area of Science:
- Molecular electronics
- Bio-electronic devices
- Graphene nanoribbons
Background:
- Investigating molecular bio-electronic devices is crucial for advancing nanoscale electronics.
- Alanine amino-acid based systems offer unique properties for molecular junctions.
- Zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) provide robust conducting electrodes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the transport properties of a molecular bio-electronic device using an alanine molecule.
- To analyze the current-voltage characteristics of a dual tunnelling molecular junction.
- To explore the potential applications of this device as a molecular rectifier and switch.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a molecular junction with an alanine molecule coupled to ZGNR electrodes.
- Studying current-voltage characteristics at different molecular compositions.
- Utilizing tunnelling coupling similar to single-electron transistors (SETs).
Main Results:
- Observed polarity-dependent current-voltage characteristics, indicating rectifying behavior.
- Detected negative differential resistance (NDR) with tuneable peak-current positions.
- Demonstrated the device's potential as a switch controllable by molecular orientation.
Conclusions:
- The alanine-based molecular device functions as a molecular rectifier.
- The device exhibits NDR and can be controlled by molecular orientation, suggesting switch capabilities.
- This bio-electronic system offers a promising platform for novel electronic functionalities.
More Related Videos
10:31Plasma-assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy of N-polar InAlN-barrier High-electron-mobility Transistors
Published on: November 24, 2016
09:54Multifunctional, Micropipette-based Method for Incorporation And Stimulation of Bacterial Mechanosensitive Ion Channels in Droplet Interface Bilayers
Published on: November 19, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism
MOSFET: Enhancement Mode
In their basic form, enhancement-mode MOSFETs are typically non-conductive when the gate-source voltage (Vgs) is zero. This default 'off' state means no...
Biasing of FET
In an N-channel JFET, the structure consists of N-type material forming the channel on a P-type substrate, with the...
Non-ohmic Devices
Consider a simple circuit consisting of a battery, a diode, and a resistor. A...
Allosteric Regulation
Biasing of Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
In Schottky junctions, where the semiconductor is n-type, applying a positive voltage to the metal relative to the semiconductor reduces its Fermi...