Photo-Patterning DNA Structures with Topological Defects and Arbitrary Patterns through Multiple Length Scales

DNA is the building block for all living organisms, hence controlling supramolecular self-assembly of DNA structures is important not only for better understanding its biological properties, but also sheds light to designing new functional materials for biological engineering and material science applications. However, it is still challenging to control the DNA molecular self-assembly structures in the predesigned manner across multiple length scales. In this work, we demonstrate that the orientational order of DNA molecules can be precisely controlled by using photo-patterning technique. This technique imprints various spatially varying patterns into a layer of liquid crystalline polymer which will be further used to control the DNA structures. It is demonstrated that DNA orientations can be patterned with two dimensional lattice of topological defects and arbitrary patterns through length scale from micrometers to millimeters. The resulting programmable and predesigned DNA self-assembly structures will open opportunities in advanced materials and devices for optical and biological applications.