Graphene Nanopores for Single-Molecule DNA Sequencing

We fabricate a nanopore in a suspended single-layer graphene membrane, which serves as a barrier between two aqueous DNA reservoirs. This nanopore device can detect the electrophoretic passage of single or double stranded DNA through transient ionic current blockades caused by DNA obstruction of the pore. Furthermore, a graphene pore, which has atomic thickness, should allow discrimination of different DNA base pairs by ionic current measurements alone. This base discrimination can become the basis of a single-molecule, ultrafast DNA sequencing scheme. We demonstrate the fabrication and evaluate the performance of these graphene nanopore devices.