Fabrication of DNA Mediated Devices: Alignment of single DNA and the 1-D pattern of DNA self-assembly

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the DNA anchoring technique on gold substrates and the DNA stretching method by molecular combing. The stretched DNA molecules were visualized by the fluorescent microscope. The stretched DNA was also evidenced by the silver reduction along DNA backbones with hydroquinone in both alkaline and acidic conditions. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) shows that the unstretched DNA molecules result in random silver coils, whereas the stretched DNA molecules give the straight silver wires of more than 10 μm long. The molecular combing technique was successfully demonstrated in bridging single DNA molecule over the gold microelectrodes, which is observed by the fluorescent microscope. The DNA anchoring on the gold surface was enhanced by the aminoethanethiol modification and by oligonucleotide hybridization. The aminoethanethiol modification of the electrode surface was analyzed by a Physical Electronics PHI 7200 ToF‐SIMS Spectrometer and a reflectron ToF analyzer. A more sophisticated DNA 1‐D structure was also achieved by the DNA self‐assembly and visualized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) with the negative staining. These achievements suggest a useful approach of converting biological macromolecules to potential applications in micro electronic industry.