  We propose a water-immersed nucleobase-functionalized suspended graphene
nanoribbon as an intrinsically selective device for nucleotide detection. The
proposed sensing method combines Watson-Crick selective base pairing with
graphene's capacity for converting anisotropic lattice strain to changes in an
electrical current at the nanoscale. Using detailed atomistic molecular
dynamics simulations, we study sensor operation at ambient conditions. We
combine simulated data with theoretical arguments to estimate the levels of
measurable electrical signal variation in response to strains and determine
that the proposed sensing mechanism shows significant promise for realistic DNA
sensing devices without the need for advanced data processing, or highly
restrictive operational conditions.
