Fabrication of nanopatterned DNA films by Langmuir-Blodgett technique

Abstract

Fractal-like nanopatterned DNA thin films have been fabricated on mica substrate by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. Structures and components of DNA nanopatterns were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effect of surface pressure on the transferred DNA composite films has been studied. Scanning force microscopic observations revealed that the surface structure and morphology of DNA nanopatterns can be well controlled by changing the surface pressure. The growth mechanism of the fractal-like nanopatterns is discussed in terms of the diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) model. The formation of large-scale DNA networks provided a well-defined template for the construction of nanocomposite films. Patterns of silver metal were prepared on DNA networks by subsequent metallization process.