Ferritin Single-Electron Transistor

The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, vol. 128, pp. 6387–6393

Abstract

We report on the fabrication of a single-electron transistor based on ferritin using wide self-aligned nanogap devices. A local gate below the gap area enables three-terminal electrical measurements, showing the Coulomb blockade in good agreement with the single-electron tunneling theory. Comparison with this theory allows extraction of the tunnel resistances, capacitances, and gate coupling. Additionally, the data suggest the presence of two separate islands coupled in series or in parallel: information that was not possible to distinguish by using only two-terminal measurements. To interpret the charge transport features, we propose a scenario based on the established configuration structures of ferritin involving either iron sites in the organic shell or two dissimilar clusters within the core.

Authors 2

1. Jacqueline A. Labra-Muñoz corresponding Aachen Department of Physics, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory

   Leiden University · Delft University of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

   Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands

2. Herre S. J. van der Zant corresponding

   Delft University of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands