Engineering and mapping nanocavity emission via precision placement of DNA origami

Abstract

Many hybrid devices integrate functional molecular or nanoparticle components with microstructures, as exemplified by the nanophotonic devices that couple emitters to optical resonators for potential use in single-molecule detection, precision magnetometry low threshold lasing and quantum information processing. These systems also illustrate a common difficulty for hybrid devices: although many proof-of-principle devices exist, practical applications face the challenge of how to incorporate large numbers of chemically diverse functional components into microfabricated resonators at precise locations. Here we show that the directed self-assembly of DNA origami onto lithographically patterned binding sites allows reliable and controllable coupling of molecular emitters to photonic crystal cavities (PCCs). The precision of this method is sufficient to enable us to visualize the local density of states within PCCs by simple wide-field microscopy and to resolve the antinodes of the cavity mode at a resolution of about one-tenth of a wavelength. By simply changing the number of binding sites, we program the delivery of up to seven DNA origami onto distinct antinodes within a single cavity and thereby digitally vary the intensity of the cavity emission. To demonstrate the scalability of our technique, we fabricate 65,536 independently programmed PCCs on a single chip. These features, in combination with the widely used modularity of DNA origami, suggest that our method is well suited for the rapid prototyping of a broad array of hybrid nanophotonic devices.

Protein Coating of DNA Nanostructures for Enhanced Stability and Immunocompatibility

“…[10][11][12] The computational tools [11][12][13] for designing such objects have emerged along with these techniques, and this progress has opened up new possibilities for the researchers to effortlessly build their own nanostructures for tailored uses. [14] Recently demonstrated applications based on customized DNA nanostructures include artificial ion channels, [15] optical (plasmonic and photonic) structures, [16,17] high-precision molecular positioning devices, [18] modifiable templates for arranging, e.g., proteins, [19][20][21] polymers, [22] and nanotubes, [23] as well as DNA-assisted techniques for creating arbitrarily shaped metal nanoparticles. [24][25][26] Fully addressable DNA nanostructures, especially DNA origami, possess huge potential to serve as inherently biocompatible and versatile molecular platforms.…”

DNA Block Macromolecules Based on Rolling Circle Amplification Act as Scaffolds to Build Large‐Scale Origami Nanostructures

“…In recent decades, self‐assembly based on the specific and programmable recognition interactions between DNA molecules has been shown to be a successful strategy for the generation of artificial nanostructures . In various self‐assembling methods, DNA origami is inarguably the most effective way of producing 1D, 2D, and 3D arbitrarily shaped nanoscale patterns . This technique entails the combination of a long single strand DNA (ssDNA; typically the filamentous bacteriophage M13) with hundreds of short staple strands to define the shape and patterning of the structure.…”

A detailed experimental study of a DNA computer with two endonucleases

“…Over a period of a few decades of research into DNA computing, various theoretical models have been proposed, for example, the splicing system [1,19], the self-assembly model [20], computing with membranes [21], and the sticker-based model [22]. The self-assembly of DNA molecules has enabled the folding of DNA molecules into shapes such as squares and five-pointed stars [23]; this DNA origami has allowed the coupling of molecular emitters to photonic crystal cavities [24]. Current research in DNA computing shows sophisticated computer systems, e.g.…”