DNA-assembled plasmonic nanosystems

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

One of the cornerstones in nanophotonics research is the miniaturization of optical devices to the nanometer scale. DNA nanotechnology offers a pathway to realize high-speed nanoscale optical devices using DNA as a molecular building block. Its biorecognition and addressability have led to the successful engineering of self-assembled nanostructures. In particular, the DNA origami technique, which involves the bottom-up self-assembly of long single-stranded DNA "scaffold" into predefined 2D and 3D shapes using specifically designed short oligonucleotides "staple strands", enables the scalable production of intricate nanostructures with high yields. In this talk, I present recent advancements and my perspectives on self-assembled plasmonic nanosystems using DNA origami technology. These systems include plasmonic waveguides, optical nanoantennas, and plasmonic switches, which efficiently manipulate, concentrate, and guide light without being diffraction-limited. Advanced near/far-field optical spectroscopies empower precise characterization of these plasmonic systems with nanometer resolution. The optical spectroscopy results reveal that DNA-assembled plasmonic devices allow sub-micron mode confinement and well-defined surface plasmon resonances within a specific frequency window. These capabilities hold significant potential in nanoscale energy transfer, energy conversion, biosensing, and various biomedical applications.