Inorganic templated structures. Credit: Aaron Michelson et al.
A team of researchers has developed a universal method for semiconductor nanostructure production. The novel method relies on “hacked” DNA that instructs molecules to self-organize into specified 3D patterns.
Published in Science Advances, the method outlines a universal production method to produce metallic and semiconductor 3D nanostructures which could potentially be the basis for next-generation semiconductor devices. By utilizing “hacked” DNA to organize molecules into specified 3D patterns, the method is the first of its kind that produces robust nanostructures from numerous material classes.
“We have been using DNA to program nanoscale materials for more than a decade,” said Oleg Gang, professor of chemical engineering and of applied physics and materials science at Columbia Engineering. “Now, by building on previous achievements, we have developed a method for converting these DNA-based structures into many types of functional inorganic 3D nano-architectures, and this opens tremendous opportunities for 3D nanoscale manufacturing.”
As a proof of concept, the researchers utilized the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) to produce ultra-high-resolution views of the structures for every precursor used after vapor-phase infiltration, liquid-phase infiltration, and stacking both techniques. A combination of transmission electron microscopes and scanning electron microscopes were employed to analyze the materials at nanoscale resolution.
“This type of chemical detail cannot be captured by other techniques or any other facility,” said Hanfei Yan, lead beamline scientist at the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe (HXN). “And this information was very important for this study because of the nanostructures’ complexity. Uncovering the elemental distribution helped us determine whether the new method was effective and if the coatings fully penetrated the lattice.”
The novel method developed sets the stage for further development of tunable 3D nanostructures which could lead to breakthroughs in several industries that manufacture at small scales.