Charging effect in Au nanoparticle memory device with biomolecule binding mechanism.

Organic memory device having gold nanoparticle (Au NPs) has been introduced in the structure of metal-pentacene-insulator-silicon (MPIS) capacitor device, where the Au NPs layer was formed by a new bonding method. Biomolecule binding mechanism between streptavidin and biotin was used as a strong binding method for the formation of monolayered Au NPs on polymeric dielectric of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA). The self-assembled Au NPs was functioned to show storages of charge in the MPIS device. The binding by streptavidin and biotin was confirmed by AFM and UV-VIS. The UV-VIS absorption of the Au NPs was varied at 515 nm and 525 nm depending on the coating of streptavidin. The AFM image showed no formation of multi-stacked layers of the streptavidin-capped Au NPs on biotin-NHS layer. Capacitance–voltage (C–V ) performance of the memory device was measured to investigate the charging effect from Au NPs. In addition, charge retention by the Au NPs storage was tested to show 10,000 s in the C–V curve.