Intelligent and ultrasensitive analysis of mercury trace contaminants via plasmonic metamaterial-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Label-free molecular logic gates (AND, INHIBIT, and OR) are constructed based on specific conformation modulation of a guanine- and thymine-rich DNA, while the optical readout is enabled by the tunable metamaterials which serve as a substrate for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. The DNA logic is simple to operate, highly reproducible, and can be stimulated by ultra-low concentration of the external inputs, enabling an extremely sensitive detection of mercury ions down to 2 × 10(-4) ppb.