On the possibility of study the surface structure of small bio-objects, including fragments of nucleotide chains, by means of electron interference

We propose a new method to study the surface of small bio-objects, including macromolecules and their complexes. This method is based on interference of low-energy electrons. Theoretically, this type of interference may allow to construct a hologram of the biological object, but, unlike an optical h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics letters. A 2009-07, Vol.373 (31), p.2608-2613
Main Author: Namiot, V.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We propose a new method to study the surface of small bio-objects, including macromolecules and their complexes. This method is based on interference of low-energy electrons. Theoretically, this type of interference may allow to construct a hologram of the biological object, but, unlike an optical hologram, with the spatial resolution of the order of inter-atomic distances. The method provides a possibility to construct a series of such holograms at various levels of electron energies. In theory, obtaining such information would be enough to identify the types of molecular groups existing on the surface of the studied object. This method could also be used for “fast reading” of nucleotide chains. It has been shown how to depose a long linear molecule as a straight line on a substrate before carrying out such “reading”.
ISSN:0375-9601
1873-2429
DOI:10.1016/j.physleta.2008.12.075