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Abstract

Conspectus: The possibility to increase fluorescence by plasmonic effects in the near-field of metal nanostructures was recognized more than half a century ago. A major challenge, however, was to use this effect because placing single quantum emitters in the nanoscale plasmonic hotspot remained unsolved for a long time. This not only presents a chemical problem but also requires the nanostructure itself to be coaligned with the polarization of the excitation light. Additional difficulties arise from the complex distance dependence of fluorescence emission: in contrast to other surface-enhanced spectroscopies (such as Raman spectroscopy), the emitter should not be placed as close as possible to the metallic nanostructure but rather needs to be at an optimal distance on the order of a few nanometers to avoid undesired quenching effects.

Our group addressed these challenges almost a decade ago by exploiting the unique positioning ability of DNA nanotechnology and reported the first self-assembled DNA origami nanoantennas. This Account summarizes our work spanning from this first proof-of-principle study to recent advances in utilizing DNA origami nanoantennas for single DNA molecule detection on a portable smartphone microscope.

We summarize different aspects of DNA origami nanoantennas that are essential for achieving strong fluorescence enhancement and discuss how single-molecule fluorescence studies helped us to gain a better understanding of the interplay between fluorophores and plasmonic hotspots. Practical aspects of preparing the DNA origami nanoantennas and extending their utility are also discussed.

Fluorescence enhancement in DNA origami nanoantennas is especially exciting for signal amplification in molecular diagnostic assays or in single-molecule biophysics, which could strongly benefit from higher time resolution. Additionally, biophysics can greatly profit from the ultrasmall effective detection volumes provided by DNA nanoantennas that allow single-molecule detection at drastically elevated concentrations as is required, e.g., in single-molecule DNA sequencing approaches.

Finally, we describe our most recent progress in developing DNA NanoAntennas with Cleared HOtSpots (NACHOS) that are fully compatible with biomolecular assays. The developed DNA origami nanoantennas have proven robustness and remain functional after months of storage. As an example, we demonstrated for the first time the single-molecule detection of DNA specific to antibiotic-resistant bacteria on a portable and battery-driven smartphone microscope enabled by DNA origami nanoantennas. These recent developments mark a perfect moment to summarize the principles and the synthesis of DNA origami nanoantennas and give an outlook of new exciting directions toward using different nanomaterials for the construction of nanoantennas as well as for their emerging applications.