The peptide nano-rings containing Au nanoparticles inside their cavities were self-assembled on dithiol SAMs patterned as an array by AFM-based nanolithography. The peptide nano-rings were aligned as a line on these SAMs, and Au formed lines with the spacing between these nanoparticles as the peptide nano-rings functioned as spacers. This type of array fabrication will provide improved tunability in their optical properties of resulting nanoparticle-assembled arrays. In addition, optimization of the inter-particle distance of nanoparticles in the array with various spacers may allow one to design new types of photonic crystals with desired optical properties.
Keywords: Bionanotechnology; Nanofabrication; Peptide nano-rings; Self-assembled monolayers.