Synthesis and properties of SiO2 photonic crystals modified by DNA

Background: Photonic crystals are structures characterized by periodic modulations of the refractive index with a period commensurate with the wavelength. This periodicity is associated with the existence of a complete band gap in the spectrum of the electromagnetic states of the crystal. The stop zone is called the band gap for the highlighted direction in the crystal. Globular photonic crystals are called three-dimensional photonic crystals, which consist of the same diameter globules. The pores between the globules in the opal allow one to change the refractive index and optical contrast of the material. The task of controlling the stop-zone frequency limits of a globular photonic crystal without changing its physical structure is of practical interest. The easiest way to control the stop-zone parameters is to fill the pores of the photonic crystals with materials with different refractive indices, for example, DNA. Control of the optical parameters of a globular photonic crystal can be used for the creation of optical detectors, sensors, test systems, a quantum biocomputer as well as analyzing and studying a conformational state of DNA. Objectives: the creation of SiO2 globular photonic crystals modified by DNA and studying of the influence of DNA on their optical properties. Materials and Methods: Ethyl alcohol, distilled water, ammonium hydroxide, tetraethoxysilane and DNA were used to synthesize SiO2 photonic crystals. Aqueous DNA solution was used to infiltrate the photonic crystals. We used a visible range spectroscopy for optical experiments and a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for numerical calculations. Results: SiO2 globular photonic crystals modified by DNA were synthesized with 195 nm globules. The reflection spectra of the obtained photonic crystals were measured. A red-shift of the stop-zone maximum after the infiltration of photonic crystals with DNA molecules was found. The electric field distribution was calculated for the photonic crystal with 200 nm globules. Conclusions: FDTD calculations in the linear mode show that the presence of point defects in the structure of the photonic crystal influences the amplification of the local electric field in the interglobular space of the photonic crystal, which houses the DNA molecule at infiltration. The DNA infiltration into the pores of a photonic crystal changes the effective refractive index of the system by 5.99%. Synthesis SiO2 photonic crystals with DNA leads to the formation of a more ordered structure at the macro levels. Thus, DNA serves as a template-like structure for photonic crystals to be assembled on. In this case, the effective refractive index of the system increases by 6.01%.