E-Beam Nanostructuring and Direct Click Biofunctionalization of Thiol-Ene Resist

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Biomaterials Science
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Electron beam lithography (EBL) is crucial for fabricating ultraminiaturized biohybrid systems.
• Current EBL methods face challenges with multi-step biomolecule immobilization, harsh conditions, and limited structural properties of resists.
• Sensitive biomolecules require gentle processing for successful integration into nanostructures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an improved EBL resist for direct and selective biomolecule immobilization.
• To overcome limitations of existing methods for biohybrid system fabrication.
• To enable the creation of mechanically robust biohybrid components for advanced applications.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of a novel thiol-ene EBL resist with surface-reactive thiol groups.
• Direct "click" immobilization of biomolecules under benign conditions.
• Fabrication of EBL-structured features down to 20 nm.
• Functionalization of nanostructures with biotin and streptavidin.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated direct and selective "click" immobilization of biomolecules.
• Achieved EBL feature sizes as small as 20 nm.
• Successfully functionalized nanostructures with a biotin-streptavidin sandwich.
• Created mechanically robust biohybrid components.

Conclusions:

• The developed thiol-ene EBL resist facilitates direct biomolecule immobilization under mild conditions.
• This approach enables the fabrication of high-resolution, mechanically stable biohybrid systems.
• The technology holds promise for nanoscale biomedical, electronic, photonic, and robotic applications.