Dietrich A. Dehlinger

Directed hybridization of DNA derivatized nanoparticles into higher order structures.

Electric field directed hybridization was used to produce twenty layer nanostructures composed of DNA derivatized nanoparticles. Using an electronic microarray device, DNA nanoparticles could be directed and concentrated such that rapid and specific hybridization occurs only on the activated sites. Nanoparticle layers were formed within 30 s of activation and twenty layer structures completed in under an hour. Results demonstrate a unique combination of bottom-up and top-down techniques for nanofabrication.

Parallel Assisted Assembly of Multilayer DNA and Protein Nanoparticle Structures Using a CMOS Electronic Array

A CMOS electronic microarray device was used to carry out the rapid parallel assembly of functionalized nanoparticles into multilayer structures. Electronic microarrays produce reconfigurable DC electric fields that allow DNA, proteins as well as charged molecules to be rapidly transported from the bulk solution and addressed to specifically activated sites on the array surface. Such a device was used to carry out the assisted self‐assembly DNA, biotin and streptavidin derivatized fluorescent nanoparticles into multilayer structures. Nanoparticle addressing could be carried out in about 15 seconds, and forty depositions of nanoparticles were completed in less than one hour. The final multilayered 3D nanostructures were verified by scanning electron microscopy.

Automated Combinatorial Process for Nanofabrication of Structures Using Bioderivatized Nanoparticles

A fully automated electronic microarray control system (Nanochip 400 System) was used to carry out a combinatorial process to determine optimal conditions for fabricating higher order three-dimensional nanoparticle structures. Structures with up to 40 layers of bioderivatized nanoparticles were fabricated on a 400-test site CMOS microarray using the automated Nanochip 400 System. Reconfigurable electric fields produced on the surface of the CMOS microarray device actively transport, concentrate, and promote binding of 40 nm biotin- and streptavidin-derivatized nanoparticles to selected test sites on the microarray surface. The overall fabrication process including nanoparticle reagent delivery to the microarray device, electronic control of the CMOS microarray and the optical/fluorescent detection, and monitoring of nanoparticle layering are entirely controlled by the Nanochip 400 System. The automated nanoparticle layering process takes about 2 minutes per layer, with 10–20 seconds required for the electronic addressing and binding of nanoparticles, and roughly 60 seconds for washing. The addressing and building process is monitored by changes in fluorescence intensity as each nanoparticle layer is deposited. The final multilayered 3D structures are about 2 μm in thickness and 55 μm in diameter. Multilayer nanoparticle structures and control sites on the microarray were verified by SEM analysis.