Ultrasensitive detection of Ebola matrix protein in a memristor mode

We demonstrate the direct biosensing of the Ebola VP40 matrix protein, using a memristor mode of a liquid-integrated nanodevice, based on a large array of honeycomb-shaped silicon nanowires. To shed more light on the principle of biodetection using memristors, we engineered the opening of the current-minima voltage gap V_GAP by involving the third gap-control electrode (gate voltage, V_G) into the system. The primary role of V_G is to mimic the presence of the charged species of the desired sign at the active area of the sensor. We further showed the advantages of biodetection with an initially opened controlled gap (V_GAP ≠ 0), which allows the detection of the lowest concentrations of the biomolecules carrying arbitrary positive or negative charges; this feature was not present in previous configurations. We compared the bio-memristor performance, in terms of its detection range and sensitivity, to that of the already-known field-effect transistor (FET) mode by operating the same device. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of Ebola matrix protein detection using a nanoscaled electrical sensor.