DNA Origami Revolutionizes Metamaterial Manufacture - Technology Review

DNA Origami Revolutionizes Metamaterial Manufacture - Technology Review: The idea here is to cover gold nanoparticles with short strands of single strand DNA. At the same time, the complement of this strand is built into a bigger DNA structure called a scaffold. When the nanoparticles are placed in solution with the DNA scaffold, the complementary DNA strands bond together, attaching the nanoparticles to the scaffold...
Kuzyk and co have used this process to bind nine gold nanoparticles just 10nm across to strands of DNA, forming a helical shape. So the particles form the steps in a tiny spiral staircase...
The result is a fluid that takes on the optical properties of the helical nanoparticle structures. Any circularly polarised light travelling through the spiral will excite electronic waves called plasmons on the surface of the gold nanoparticles.