DNA detection by THz pumping

DNA semiconductor detection and sequencing is considered to be the most promising approach for future discoveries in genome and proteome research which is dramatically dependent on the challenges faced by semiconductor nanotechnologies. DNA pH-sensing with ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) is well-known to be a successfully applied electronic platform for genetic research. However this method lacks fundamentally in chemical specificity. Here we develop the first ever silicon nanosandwich pump device, which provides both the excitation of DNA fragments' self-resonant modes and the feedback for current-voltage measurements at room temperature. This device allows direct detection of single-stranded label-free oligonucleotides by measuring their THz frequency response in aqueous solution. These results provide a new insight into the nanobioelectronics for the future real-time technologies of direct gene observations.