Dissociative adsorption structure of guanine on Ge(100)

Understanding the reaction mechanisms and structures underlying the adsorption of biomolecules on semiconductors is important for functionalizing semiconductor surfaces for various bioapplications. Herein, we describe the characteristic behavior of a primary nucleobase adsorbed on the semiconductor Ge(100). The adsorption configuration of guanine, a primary nucleobase found in DNA and RNA, on the semiconductor Ge(100) at an atomic level was investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. When adsorbed on Ge(100) at room temperature, guanine appears dark in STM images, indicating that the adsorption of guanine on Ge(100) occurs through N-H dissociation. In addition, DFT calculations revealed that "N(1)-H dissociation through an O dative bonded structure" is the most favorable adsorption configuration of all the possible ones. We anticipate that the characterization of guanine adsorbed on Ge(100) will contribute to the development of semiconductor-based biodevices.