Researchers in the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering have developed a unique new device using graphene that provides the first step toward ultrasensitive biosensors to detect diseases at the molecular level with excellent efficiency.
Ultrasensitive biosensors for probing protein structures could greatly improve diagnosis of a wide variety of diseases extending to both humans and animals. These include Alzheimer’s disease, Chronic Wasting Disease, and mad cow diseaseâdisorders related to protein misfolding. Such biosensors could also lead to improved technologies for developing new pharmaceutical compounds.
In order to detect and treat many diseases we need to detect protein molecules at very small amounts and understand their structure, said Sang-Hyun Oh, University of Minnesota electrical and computer engineering professor and lead researcher on the study. Currently, there are many technical challenges with that process. We hope that our device using graphene and a unique manufacturing process will provide the fundamental research that can help overcome those challenges.
Significant attempts have been made to improve biosensors using graphene, but the challenge exists with its single atom thickness. This means it does not interact efficiently with light when shined through it. Light absorption and conversion to local electric fields is essential for detecting small amounts of molecules when diagnosing diseases. Previous research utilizing similar graphene nanostructures has only demonstrated a light absorption rate of less than 10 percent.
In this new study, University of Minnesota researchers combined graphene with nano-sized metal ribbons of gold. Using sticky tape and a high-tech nanofabrication technique developed at the University of Minnesota, called template stripping, researchers were able to create an ultra-flat base layer surface for the graphene.
They then used the energy of light to generate a sloshing motion of electrons in the graphene, called plasmons, which can be thought to be like ripples or waves spreading through a sea of electrons. Similarly, these waves can build in intensity to giant tidal waves of local electric fields based on the researchers’ clever design.
By shining light on the single-atom-thick graphene layer device, they were able to create a plasmon wave with unprecedented efficiency at a near-perfect 94% light absorption into tidal waves of electric field. When they inserted protein molecules between the graphene and metal ribbons, they were able to harness enough energy to view single layers of protein molecules.
Our computer simulations showed that this novel approach would work, but we were still a little surprised when we achieved the 94% light absorption in real devices, said Oh, who holds the Sanford P. Bordeau Chair in Electrical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Realizing an ideal from a computer simulation has so many challenges. Everything has to be so high quality and atomically flat. The fact that we could obtain such good agreement between theory and experiment was quite surprising and exciting.