Eur. Phys. J. B (2014) 87: 272
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-50400-2

Regular Article

DNA sequencing through graphene nanogap: a model of sequential electron transport

¹ Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna, Moscow region, Russia
² Department of Nanotechnology and New Materials, Dubna University, 141980 Dubna, Moscow region, Russia

^a e-mail: issaeva@theor.jinr.ru

Received: 13 June 2014
Received in final form: 16 September 2014
Published online: 17 November 2014

Abstract

Transverse electron transport through DNA nucleobases in graphene nanogap with armchair edges is investigated within the sequential tunneling model using the tight-binding approximation and the master equation technique. The effects of both random positions of nucleotides when DNA repeatedly pulls through graphene nanogap during the decoding process and the Coulomb blockade are studied. We have shown that combined measurements of the tunnel current and its root-mean-square deviation in the regime of sequential electron transport allow to facilitate identification of nucleotides while the effects of Coulomb blockade disturb DNA sequencing.