Tuning the geometry of shape-restricted DNA molecules on the functionalized Si(1 1 1)

Designing a well-defined and stable interface between biomolecules and semiconductor surfaces is of great importance for current and future biosensing and bioelectronic applications. The well-characterized chemistry, stability, and easily tunable electronic properties of silicon substrate make it a practical platform for this type of interface. It has been established in our previous work that a robust, covalent attachment between thiol-DNA molecules of a pre-designed geometrical shape and a modified silicon surface can be achieved. This work focuses on using this binding model and altering the distance between the DNA molecules and silicon surface by strategically placing thiol linkers within the pre-determined geometric design of the rectangularly shaped DNA. The statistical analysis of the height profiles of DNA molecules attached to the surface, as determined by AFM, provides specific insight into how the construction of the DNA molecules affects the binding distance. A comparison between two thiol-DNA molecules with different numbers of thiol groups placed either within the rectangular shape or anchored to the free loop of the same geometric design suggest that the average distance of these molecules to the functionalized silicon surface can be changed by approximately 0.5 nm.