Self-assembly: a review of scope and applications

Self-assembly (SA) is the preferred growth mechanism in the natural world, on scales ranging from the molecular to the macro-scale. It involves the assembling of components, which governed by a set of local interaction rules, lead to the formation of a global minimum energy structure. In this survey, the authors explore the extensive research conducted to exploit SA in three domains; first, as a bottom-up approach to fabricate semiconductor heterostructures and nano-scale devices composed of carbon nanotubes and nanowires; second, for meso-scale assembly to build systems such as three-dimensional electrical networks and microelectromechanical systems by utilising capillary force, external magnetic field and so on as the binding force; and third, as an emerging means to achieve computing via tiling, biomolecular automata and logic gates. DNA, in particular, has been a molecule of choice because of its easy availability, biological importance and high programmability as a result of its highly specific component bases.