Collaborative Research: Parallel, Adaptive Manufacturing of Nanoscale Electrical Interconnects Using DNA Self-Assembly

也许在过去100年里出现的最重要的技术是集成电路，它是计算机、智能手机、平板电脑和其他广泛使用的消费电子设备的关键部件。传统的光刻和微加工方法使集成电路的大规模制造成为可能。然而，通过更小的纳米级制造过渡到更高的性能和功能是极其昂贵的，目前需要训练有素的人员和缓慢的方法，这些方法不容易放大。我们将利用DNA配对的选择性，在没有人工干预的情况下，以低成本建造纳米级电路元件的连接器。这些生物分子连接器随后将被涂上集成电路中使用的材料。该奖项将展示利用DNA自组装作为一种自动化制造技术的可行性，这种技术可以在未来扩大规模，以高度并行的方式制造纳米级电路。这一奖项将由两所大学的学生进行，并将通过视频会议和前往各自的实验室进行广泛的互动，使所有学生能够在完成这项工作所需的不同领域发展专门知识。这项研究将借鉴工程和科学领域的想法，并将包括针对K-12和本科生的教育和外联计划，其中包括面对面的互动，以及对巴尔的摩市和普罗沃犹他州地区代表不足的少数族裔学生的指导。该奖项将开发一种方法，利用DNA纳米结构组装和后功能化，在分子规模的终端之间精确组装导电纳米线。这种方法可以用于多个连接器的并联自组装和定位。重要的是，这种自适应装配方法不需要预先知道这些端子的位置和方向以及它们之间的距离。为了探索这种组装方法的可行性和由此产生的连接器的功能，该项目将开发一个平台，该平台将能够同时自下而上地组装电极之间的许多互连，以便可以表征每个组装的互连的导电性。研究小组将建立一个以DNA纳米结构为模板的多个导电互连的阵列，以便它们的终端精确地定位在电极上，并使用自下而上的方法来指导DNA连接器在这些终端分子之间的精确组装。然后将使用化学镀和相关方法来组装端子之间的导电连接。同时，许多此类连接器的电气特性将提供有关此类连接器性能内在变异性的有价值的信息，而测量组装成品率将增加我们对电子电路和设备自下而上组装的可靠性的了解。

Perhaps the most important technology to arise in the past 100 years has been the integrated circuit, which is the key component of computers, smartphones, tablets, and other widely used consumer electronic devices. Conventional lithography and micromachining methods have made possible large-scale manufacturing of integrated circuits. However, transitioning to increased performance and functionality with smaller, nanometer-scale fabrication is extremely costly and currently involves highly trained personnel and slow methods that are not readily scaled up. We will use the selectivity of DNA pairing to build connectors for circuit elements at the nanoscale at low cost and without human intervention. These biomolecular connectors will be subsequently coated with materials used in integrated circuits. This award will show the feasibility of utilizing self-assembly with DNA as an automated manufacturing technique that can be scaled up in the future to create nanoscale electrical circuits in a highly parallel manner. This award will be carried out by students at both universities and will involve extensive interaction through videoconferencing and travel to respective laboratories to enable all students to develop expertise in the different areas needed to complete this work. The research will draw from ideas across engineering and science and will include education and outreach programs for K-12 and undergraduate students that include in-person interaction and mentorship of underrepresented minority students in Baltimore City and the Provo Utah area. This award will develop a method for assembling conductive nanowires precisely between molecular-scale terminals using DNA nanostructure assembly and post-functionalization. Such a method could be used to self-assemble and position many connectors in parallel. Importantly, this adaptive assembly method does not require the positions and orientations of these terminals and the distance between them to be known in advance. To explore the feasibility of this assembly method and the functionality of the resulting connectors, the project will develop a platform that will enable the simultaneous bottom-up assembly of many interconnects between electrodes, such that the electrical conductivity of each assembled interconnect can be characterized. The research team will build an array of multiple conductive interconnects templated by DNA nanostructures such that their terminals are precisely positioned on electrodes and use bottom-up methods to direct the assembly of DNA connectors precisely between these terminal molecules. Electroless plating and related methods will then be used to assemble conductive connections between the terminals. The electrical characterization of many such connectors simultaneously will provide valuable information about the inherent variability in performance of such connectors, while measuring the yield of assembly will increase our understanding of the reliability of bottom-up assembly of electronic circuits and devices.