Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme
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MM: Fachverband Metall- und Materialphysik
MM 35: SYBM Bioinspired Materials
MM 35.25: Poster
Thursday, March 29, 2007, 18:45–20:45, H16
Optical and Structural Characterisation of Metallised Oligonucleotides — •Nadine Holzapfel1, Glenn Burley2, Johannes Gierlich2, David Hammond2, Thomas Carell2, Gerhard Abstreiter1, and Ulrich Rant1 — 1Walter Schottky Institut, Technische Universität München, Am Coulombwall 3, 85748 Garching — 2Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Butenandtstr. 5-13, 81377 München
Metallised DNA structures have received considerable attention recently; mainly for their potential applications in nanoelectronic devices. Aside from this, metallised oligonucleotides of nanometer dimensions are expected to exhibit intriguing optical properties due to the excitation of collective oscillations of the conducting electrons by visible light (plasmons). In this study, we used two different methods to deposit silver on oligonucleotides of different lengths (23-96 base pairs). The first method involved the specific labelling of nucleotides with aldehyde groups, followed by exposure to Tollens reagens and a developer, whereas the second method relied on the photoinduced deposition of Ag onto unmodified DNA samples. Several preparation parameters (DNA sequence, buffer salt type, Ag concentration, UV illumination time) were varied systematically. The optical properties of the resulting metallised DNA samples were characterised by recording the extinction spectra using a UV/VIS absorption spectrometer. An extinction maximum was found at ca. 410 nm which is indicative of a plasmonic mode. In addition, the metallised DNA structures were deposited on single crystalline Si wafers and imaged by SEM and AFM.