DNA-Assembled Advanced Plasmonic Architectures

TL;DR

This paper reviews how DNA nanostructures are used as scaffolds to create advanced plasmonic architectures, enabling precise nanoscale control for optical device development beyond traditional fabrication methods.

Contribution

It highlights recent progress in employing DNA self-assembly, especially DNA origami, for designing and constructing sophisticated plasmonic nanostructures.

Findings

DNA origami enables nanometer-precision organization of plasmonic components

Self-assembled DNA structures overcome limitations of top-down fabrication

New plasmonic designs are emerging from DNA-based nanofabrication

Abstract

The interaction between light and matter can be controlled efficiently by structuring materials at a length scale shorter than the wavelength of interest. With the goal to build optical devices that operate at the nanoscale, plasmonics has established itself as a discipline, where near-field effects of electromagnetic waves created in the vicinity of metallic surfaces can give rise to a variety of novel phenomena and fascinating applications. As research on plasmonics has emerged from the optics and solid-state communities, most laboratories employ top-down lithography to implement their nanophotonic designs. In this review, we discuss the recent, successful efforts of employing self-assembled DNA nanostructures as scaffolds for creating advanced plasmonic architectures. DNA self-assembly exploits the base-pairing specificity of nucleic acid sequences and allows for the nanometer-precise organization of organic molecules but also for the arrangement of inorganic particles in space. Bottom-up self-assembly thus bypasses many of the limitations of conventional fabrication methods. As a consequence, powerful tools such as DNA origami have pushed the boundaries of nanophotonics and new ways of thinking about plasmonic designs are on the rise.