Molecular devices for nanoelectronics and plasmonics

Abstract

This thesis is focused on fabrication and characterization of molecular devices. In connection with molecular electronics the dielectrophoresis based method for trapping and attaching nanoscale double-stranded DNA between nanoelectrodes was developed. Moreover, the method was extended to self-assembled DNA nanostructures. The method allowed to obtain valuable information about electrical and dielectrophoretic properties of DNA. In addition, two general approaches to the utilization of DNA origami structures for the assembly of materials are described and experimentally demonstrated. In context of molecular plasmonics, a novel lithographic fabrication method for positioning dye molecules on plasmonic waveguides was developed. The potential for utilization of fluorescent molecules as couplers between far-field light and plasmons in microscale waveguides was explored. Energy transfer, mediated by surface plasmons, from donor molecules to acceptor molecules over ten micrometer distances was demonstrated. Moreover, it was showed that beside excitation and detection, fluorescent molecules can be used to manipulate properties of surface plasmons, e.g., to convert the frequency of propagating plasmons.