Final Report Summary - ORCA (Optical Responses Controlled by DNA Assembly)
The goal of this project was the exploration of DNA-assembly for the design and manufacturing of nano-sized objects with tailored optical functionality and the establishment of novel sensor techniques. To this end we exploited the concept of chiral plasmonic assemblies, where DNA origami structures are used to arrange plasmonic particles (gold and silver spheres and rods) in space. The plasmonic assemblies have been termed "metamolecules" and they exhibit a variety of novel optical effects and can perform dynamic reconfiguration. With the nanometer-precise assembly that we established with our methods, we have demonstrated switchable chiral metamaterials and metafluids with tailored optical responses that arise from collective plasmon interactions within the particle arrangements. These effects include plasmonic circular dichroism and loss-less and coherent energy transfer via plasmonic particle chains. The latter could boost the transfer of information in nanoscale optical computing devices.
Additional outcome of this project included the design and characterization of metamolecule-based sensors, which we used to, e.g. detect pathogenic RNA sequences in the picomolar-range, and the manufacturing of DNA origami-based 3D crystals that can host optical components and are resilient to drying and vacuum through a process of DNA nanostructure silicification.
Additional outcome of this project included the design and characterization of metamolecule-based sensors, which we used to, e.g. detect pathogenic RNA sequences in the picomolar-range, and the manufacturing of DNA origami-based 3D crystals that can host optical components and are resilient to drying and vacuum through a process of DNA nanostructure silicification.