| abstract |
A chemically-gated single-electron transistor (60) having a predetermined current-voltage characteristic and adapted for use as a chemical or biological sensor that is operable at room temperature. The single-electron transistor comprises a substrate (SuB) formed of a first insulating material, source (S) and drain (D) electrodes disposed on the substrate, and a metal nanoparticle (L) disposed between the source and drain electrodes that has a spatial dimension of a magnitude of approximately 12 nm or less. An analyte-specific binding agent is disposed on a surface of the nanoparticle. A binding event occurring between a target analyte and the binding agent causes a detectable change in the current-voltage characteristic. |