Bionanofabrication by Near-Field Optical Methods

Abstract

Near-field optical methods offer unique potential in nanofabrication, because they provide the capacity to initiate highly selective chemical transformations with nanometer scale precision. The basic principles behind scanning near-field photolithography (SNP), in which a scanning near-field optical microscope coupled to a UV laser is used to initiate surface chemical reactions, are described. The fundamental principles underlying the patterning of self-assembled monolayers by SNP are described, and the resolution limits and the basic principles that enable routine achievement of sub-50 nm resolution are discussed. Illustrations are provided of the application of SNP to the patterning of protein molecules on gold surfaces. The patterning of molecular adsorbates on oxide surfaces, including the fabrication of highly miniaturized arrays of DNA on silicon dioxide, is also described. It is argued that SNP holds great promise for the organization of biomolecules on nanometer length scales.

A Step Closer to Membrane Protein Multiplexed Nanoarrays Using Biotin-Doped Polypyrrole

“… 3 Further miniaturization of protein and small organic molecule arrays in the nanometer regime could also improve detection sensitivity and provide important tools for investigating specific biomolecular reactions that are not afforded by micrometer-scale structures. 4 Arrays of proteins with micrometer and/or submicrometer features have been fabricated by using patterning techniques such as microcontact printing, 4 , 5 scanning near-field optical, 6 dip-pen, 7 photo-, and ion beam lithography, 8 − 10 atomic force microscopy (AFM), 11 and electrochemical-based approaches. 12 However, only a handful of examples of multiple soluble protein nanoarrays has been reported, 1 and, to date, none of the techniques mentioned above have been used to nanopattern multiple purified membrane proteins (MPs).…”