A simple solution to the problem of self-assembling cubic diamond crystals
A simple solution to the problem of self-assembling cubic diamond crystals
复制标题
立方金刚石晶体自组装问题的简单解决方案
DOI：
10.1039/d2nr03533b
复制
发表时间：
2022
期刊：
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Šulc, Petr
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Rovigatti, Lorenzo;Russo, John;Romano, Flavio;Matthies, Michael;Kroc, Lukáš;Šulc, Petr
胶体金刚石（CD）晶体的自组装被认为是纳米技术最令人垂涎的目标之一，无论是从技术角度还是从基础角度来看。在应用方面，胶体金刚石是一种光子晶体，它可以为信息处理中的光操纵开辟新的可能性。从基本的角度来看，其独特的对称性加剧了目标结构自组装过程中常见的一系列问题，例如动力学陷阱的存在以及晶体缺陷和替代结构（多晶型）的形成。在这里，我们证明所有这些问题都可以通过SAT组装系统地解决，SAT组装是一个将自组装转换为布尔可满足性问题（SAT）的设计框架。与以往的解决方案（需要四种或更多组分）相反，我们证明了CD晶体的组装只需要二元混合物。此外，我们使用由近一百万个核苷酸组成的系统的分子动力学模拟来测试DNA纳米技术设计，该设计构成了一个有希望的实验实现候选。
The self-assembly of colloidal diamond (CD) crystals is considered as one of the most coveted goals of nanotechnology, both from the technological and fundamental points of view. For applications, colloidal diamond is a photonic crystal which can open new possibilities of manipulating light for information processing. From a fundamental point of view, its unique symmetry exacerbates a series of problems that are commonly faced during the self-assembly of target structures, such as the presence of kinetic traps and the formation of crystalline defects and alternative structures (polymorphs). Here we demonstrate that all these problems can be systematically addressed via SAT-assembly, a design framework that converts self-assembly into a Boolean satisfiability problem (SAT). Contrary to previous solutions (requiring four or more components), we prove that the assembly of the CD crystal only requires a binary mixture. Moreover, we use molecular dynamics simulations of a system composed by nearly a million nucleotides to test a DNA nanotechnology design that constitutes a promising candidate for experimental realization.