Department of Chemical Engineering, ‡Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and §Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University , Provo, Utah 84602, United States.
Langmuir. 2017 Jan 24;33(3):726-735. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b04097. Epub 2017 Jan 11.
An improved method for the metallization of DNA origami is examined in this work. DNA origami, a simple and robust method for creating a wide variety of nanostructured shapes and patterns, provides an enabling template for bottom-up fabrication of next-generation nanodevices. Selective metallization of these DNA templates is needed to make nanoelectronic devices. Here, we demonstrate a metallization process that uses gold nanorod seeds followed by anisotropic plating to provide improved morphology and greater control of the final metallized width of the structure. In our approach, gold nanorods are attached to an origami template to create a seed layer. Electroless gold deposition is then used to fill the gaps between seeds in order to create continuous, conductive nanowires. Importantly, growth during electroless deposition occurs preferentially in the length direction at a rate that is approximately 4 times the growth rate in the width direction, which enables fabrication of narrow, continuous wires. The electrical properties of 49 nanowires with widths ranging from 13 to 29 nm were characterized, and resistivity values as low as 8.9 × 10 Ω·m were measured. The anisotropic metallization process presented here represents important progress toward the creation of nanoelectronic devices by molecularly directed placement of functional components onto self-assembled biological templates.
本工作研究了一种改进的 DNA 折纸金属化方法。DNA 折纸是一种简单而强大的方法，可以制造出各种形状和图案的纳米结构，为下一代纳米器件的自下而上制造提供了一个可行的模板。这些 DNA 模板的选择性金属化对于制造纳米电子器件是必要的。在这里，我们展示了一种使用金纳米棒种子然后进行各向异性电镀的金属化过程，以提供改进的形态和对结构最终金属化宽度的更好控制。在我们的方法中，金纳米棒附着在折纸模板上以形成种子层。然后使用化学镀金来填充种子之间的间隙，以形成连续的导电纳米线。重要的是，化学镀过程中的生长在长度方向上优先发生，速率约为宽度方向上生长速率的 4 倍，这使得可以制造出狭窄、连续的金属线。对宽度为 13 至 29nm 的 49 根纳米线的电学性能进行了表征，测量到的电阻率值低至 8.9×10Ω·m。这里提出的各向异性金属化过程代表了在自组装生物模板上通过分子定向放置功能组件来制造纳米电子器件的重要进展。
