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Nanoscale form dictates mesoscale function in plasmonic DNA–nanoparticle superlattices

Nature Nanotechnology volume 10, pages 453–458 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The nanoscale manipulation of matter allows properties to be created in a material that would be difficult or even impossible to achieve in the bulk state. Progress towards such functional nanoscale architectures requires the development of methods to precisely locate nanoscale objects in three dimensions and for the formation of rigorous structure–function relationships across multiple size regimes (beginning from the nanoscale). Here, we use DNA as a programmable ligand to show that two- and three-dimensional mesoscale superlattice crystals with precisely engineered optical properties can be assembled from the bottom up. The superlattices can transition from exhibiting the properties of the constituent plasmonic nanoparticles to adopting the photonic properties defined by the mesoscale crystal (here a rhombic dodecahedron) by controlling the spacing between the gold nanoparticle building blocks. Furthermore, we develop a generally applicable theoretical framework that illustrates how crystal habit can be a design consideration for controlling far-field extinction and light confinement in plasmonic metamaterial superlattices.

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Figure 1: Dipolar response in small plasmonic nanoparticles.
Figure 2: Structural characterization of DNA–nanoparticle superlattices.
Figure 3: Optical measurements and electrodynamics simulations of DNA–nanoparticle superlattices.
Figure 4: Crystal habit as a material design parameter for plasmonic superlattices.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an AFOSR MURI grant (FA9550-11-1-0275), by the Northwestern Materials Research Center (NSF grant DMR-1121262) and by the Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under award DE-SC0000989-0002. M.B.R. and J.C.K. acknowledge support from the NDSEG graduate fellowship programme. Computational time was provided by the Quest High-Performance Computing facility at Northwestern University, which is jointly supported by the Office of the Provost, the Office for Research, and Northwestern University Information Technology. SAXS experiments were carried out at the Dupont–Northwestern–Dow Collaborative Access Team beamline at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory, and use of the APS was supported by the DOE (DE-AC02-06CH11357). GISAXS experiment were carried out at beamline 12-ID-B at the APS. This work made use of the EPIC facility (NUANCE Center-Northwestern University), which has received support from the MRSEC programme (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center, the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. The authors also thank Y. Kim for assistance with SAXS measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, 60208, Illinois, USA

    Michael B. Ross, George C. Schatz & Chad A. Mirkin

  2. International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, 60208, Illinois, USA

    Michael B. Ross, Jessie C. Ku, George C. Schatz & Chad A. Mirkin

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, 60208, Illinois, USA

    Jessie C. Ku, Victoria M. Vaccarezza & Chad A. Mirkin

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  1. Michael B. Ross
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Contributions

M.B.R. designed the systems, collected and analysed data, and wrote the manuscript. J.C.K. designed the systems and collected and analysed data. V.M.V. collected data. G.C.S. and C.A.M. designed the systems, analysed the data, and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to George C. Schatz or Chad A. Mirkin.

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Ross, M., Ku, J., Vaccarezza, V. et al. Nanoscale form dictates mesoscale function in plasmonic DNA–nanoparticle superlattices. Nature Nanotech 10, 453–458 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.68

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