Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. hy1@cs.duke.edu
A DNA nanostructure consisting of four four-arm junctions oriented with a square aspect ratio was designed and constructed. Programmable self-assembly of 4 x 4 tiles resulted in two distinct lattice morphologies: uniform-width nanoribbons and two-dimensional nanogrids, which both display periodic square cavities. Periodic protein arrays were achieved by templated self-assembly of streptavidin onto the DNA nanogrids containing biotinylated oligonucleotides. On the basis of a two-step metallization procedure, the 4 x 4 nanoribbons acted as an excellent scaffold for the production of highly conductive, uniform-width, silver nanowires.