# Ferritin Single-Electron Transistor

## TL;DR

Researchers built a single-electron transistor using ferritin and observed quantum effects like Coulomb blockade, revealing new insights into its charge transport behavior.

## Contribution

A novel single-electron transistor design using ferritin with three-terminal measurements to extract tunneling parameters and detect multiple charge islands.

## Key findings

- Coulomb blockade was observed, consistent with single-electron tunneling theory.
- Data suggest two separate charge islands coupled in series or parallel.
- The charge transport features are explained by ferritin's structural configurations.

## Abstract

We report on the
fabrication of a single-electron transistor
based
on ferritin using wide self-aligned nanogap devices. A local gate
below the gap area enables three-terminal electrical measurements,
showing the Coulomb blockade in good agreement with the single-electron
tunneling theory. Comparison with this theory allows extraction of
the tunnel resistances, capacitances, and gate coupling. Additionally,
the data suggest the presence of two separate islands coupled in series
or in parallel: information that was not possible to distinguish by
using only two-terminal measurements. To interpret the charge transport
features, we propose a scenario based on the established configuration
structures of ferritin involving either iron sites in the organic
shell or two dissimilar clusters within the core.