Antibody molecules discriminate between crystalline facets of a gallium arsenide semiconductor.

Seamless integration of biomolecules with manmade materials will most likely rely on molecular recognition and specific binding. In the following we show that combinatorial antibody libraries, based on the vast repertoire of the human immune system, can be harnessed to generate such binders. As a demonstration, we isolate antibody fragments that discriminate and bind selectively GaAs (111A) facets as opposed to GaAs (100). The isolated antibodies are utilized for exclusive localization of a fluorescent dye on (111A) surfaces in a structure comprising a mixture of (100) and (111A) surfaces. The potential importance of structure rigidity to facet recognition is suggested vis-a-vis published experiments with short and longer peptides.