What happens when you combine DNA origami techniques with conventional lithography? You get a novel lithography technique dubbed DNA-assisted lithography (DALI) that has the resolution of electron beam lithography with the speed of conventional lithography.
In research described in the journal Science Advances, an international team of scientists from Finland, Denmark, and the United States have combined the programmable and accurate shapes made possible with DNA origami with conventional lithography to fabricate structures that are accurate below 10 nanometer resolution and are tens of nanometers in size.
The resulting method offers a unique example of combining bottom-up based approaches (i.e. the self-assembled DNA structures) with top-down techniques (conventional lithography), according to Jussi Toppari, a senior lecturer at University of Jyväskylä in Finland and co-author of the research. “It will extend the possibilities of both standard lithography as well as DNA origami techniques, said Toppari.