Nanoscale Assembly of Nanowires Templated by Microtubules
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Nanoscale Assembly of Nanowires Templated by Microtubules Jing C. Zhou1, Tzy-Jiun Mark Luo1, Yan Gao3, Mei Xue4, Joseph Lau1, Toshikazu Hamasaki2, Evelyn Hu3, Kang Wang4, and Bruce Dunn1 1 Dept of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 6532 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA 2 Dept of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 7523 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1600, USA 3 Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Goleta, CA 93106, USA 4 Dept of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, ENGIV 63-109, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA ABSTRACT Conventional top-down lithographic processes approach their practical and theoretical limits at dimensional scales less than 100 nm. Alternative bottom-up methods are being investigated to build nanoscale architectures, including the use of biomolecules whose functional groups bind inorganic particles. In this study, the fabrication and alignment of microtubule-based nanowires are investigated. Microtubules (MT) are fibrous proteins found in nearly all eukaryotes. Our work was carried out using polymerized alpha- and beta-tubulins, which were cross-linked with glutaraldehyde to stabilize the protein structure. Ni coated microtubules were fabricated by reducing Ni2+ to Ni0 on Pd activated microtubule surface. Focus Ion Beam was used to write metal contacts on these Ni microtubule nanowires and DC conductivity values were measured. Au deposition on MT was performed by both electroless deposition and electrodeposition, by reducing HAuCl4 onto MT prebound with 2 nm Au colloids. Although most MTs exhibited discontinuous Au binding, a fraction of MTs were covered completely by Au. Preliminary electrical measurements for these materials are reported. Alignment of microtubules was also achieved by injecting MTs into microfluidic devices over amine-coated substrate surfaces. These biotemplating approaches are the first steps towards constructing more complicated 2D and 3D architectures. INTRODUCTION The semiconductor industry is facing practical and theoretical limits for the conventional top-down lithographic process. Alternative bottom-up approaches are being investigated as means of build structures with dimensions less than 100 nm. Biological systems are attractive as templates to pattern inorganic materials at the desired length scales. Many biomolecules can self-assemble into regular structures of less than 100 nm and contain functional groups that bind to metal nanoparticles[1, 2]. Biological structures such as DNA[3, 4], virus protein cages[5-8], microtubules (MT)[9-13] and bacterial S-layers[14] have been metallized with various metals such as, Au, Ag, Ni, Pd, Cu. However, to build a useful nano-architecture, further processing of these basic building blocks is required. The goal of our project is to fabricate 2-D and 3-D nanoscale structures using microtubules as templates. Microtubules are protein filaments found in nearly all eukaryotes. As part of the cytosk
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