DNA-grafted-polymer mediated self-assembly of micro components

Systematic experiments of DNA mediated sequential and selective self-assembly of 5 × 5 (μm²) silicon micro-components to a substrate using DNA-grafted-polymers as flexible binding spacers were carried out for the first time. The surfaces of the micro-components and sites on the substrate were modified by the same 30-mers single-stranded-DNA (ssDNA). The complementary ssDNA was grafted to a polymer to form DNA-grafted-polymer. Four types of DNA-grafted-polymer with two different ssDNA hybridization lengths and two different ssDNA fractions were prepared. From the measured time dependence of the number of self-assembled micro-components on the sites, the DNA-grafted-polymer technique proved to greatly enhance the assembly yield and time compared to direct self-assembly between micro-components and sites.