Membrane proteins embedded in supported lipid bilayers employed in field effect electronic devices

A novel bottom-gate top-contact OTFT architecture has been fabricated. In this device, a lipid bilayer structure embedding a photosynthetic membrane protein extracted from Rhodobacter Sphaeroides has been deposited onto the organic semiconductor film (α,ω-dihexylsexythiophene) prior to the evaporation of source and drain gold contacts. The figures of merit of this device were extracted and compared to those obtained for the same OTFT devoid of the biological film. Only slightly lower performances in terms of field-effect mobility (µ) were observed for the lipid bilayer OTFT that exhibits µ=0.007 cm
²
/Vs. This result constitutes a preliminary important starting point towards the development of novel highly sensitive and selective herbicides sensors.