DNA used to craft world’s smallest diode
APR 05, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029718
IEEE Spectrum : Diodes are electrical components that allow electricity to flow in only a single direction. Now a diode has been made from an 11-base-pair length of DNA combined with two molecules of coralyne. The combined molecule, which is roughly 4 nm long, allows electrical current to flow through it 15 times as strongly in one direction as in the other. The researchers believe that the coralyne molecules fuel the one-way movement of electricity by creating an imbalance in the distribution of electrons in the DNA.
© 2016. American Institute of Physics