DNA Origami Nanoantennas with over 5000-fold Fluorescence Enhancement and Single-Molecule Detection at 25 μM.

Optical nanoantennas are known to focus freely propagating light and reversely to mediate the emission of a light source located at the nanoantenna hotspot. These effects were previously exploited for fluorescence enhancement and single-molecule detection at elevated concentrations. We present a new generation of self-assembled DNA origami based optical nanoantennas with improved robustness, reduced interparticle distance, and optimized quantum-yield improvement to achieve more than 5000-fold fluorescence enhancement and single-molecule detection at 25 μM background fluorophore concentration. Besides outperforming lithographic optical antennas, DNA origami nanoantennas are additionally capable of incorporating single emitters or biomolecular assays at the antenna hotspot.