Area-selective deposition of single-biomolecules using DNA/protein origamis

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join our cutting-edge research on CMOS-compatible platforms for precise positioning and control of biomolecules at single-molecule level. While micro- and nanofabrication have enabled advanced electronic and photonic systems for biotechnology, the scalable and site-selective placement of biomolecules on substrates with nanoscale patterns remains a key challenge. Particularly, emerging genomics and proteomics technologies demand manipulation of individual biomolecules. Current limitations include controlling the number, type, orientation, activity, and interaction of biomolecules at each nanostructure across large-scale arrays. A promising future direction is to combine conventional top-down patterning techniques with area-selective deposition (ASD), a bottom-up technique that deposits material only where needed, on a given area of a patterned substrate and not on adjacent surface area. This PhD project will explore DNA and protein origami-based strategies based on area-selective deposition on CMOS devices. The obtained insights will enable precise biomolecule placement with controlled orientation and functionality at wafer-scale. The research will span disciplines such as nanofabrication, molecular biology, chemistry, and materials science, contributing to the development of next-generation biosensing and biosynthesis platforms.

Your main responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Understanding adsorption and diffusion dynamics of DNA/protein origamis in physiological buffers, on CMOS chip surfaces with various geometries and functional coatings.
• Utilizing the obtained insights to design and demonstrate novel strategies for area-selective deposition of DNA/protein origamis at a large scale with precise molecular placement, orientation, and multiplexing.

• Developing and refining inspection techniques to detect the presence and activity of individual biomolecules bound to DNA/protein origamis with high sensitivity and reliability.

• Investigating diffusion-based passive loading dynamics of origamis, and then overcoming the limitations of the passive method in terms of yield, uniformity, scalability, and placement precision, by introducing active loading mechanisms.
• Exploring diverse dynamic origami structures for controlled biomolecular interactions and signal amplification.

Relevant review papers:

• Single molecule DNA origami nanoarrays with controlled protein orientation

(https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0099294)

• Fabricating higher-order functional DNA origami structures to reveal biological processes at multiple scales

(https://doi.org/10.1038/s41427-023-00470-3)

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