Cold Plasma Effects on the Optical Properties of Salmon DNA Thin-films

Fabrication of organic electronics is attractive due to the prospective lower cost when compared to inorganic devices. In particular, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) biopolymers show excellent promise for use in organic electronics due to their great electron-blocking capability and abundance in animal waste products. While DNA thin-films are often created by associating DNA with hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTMA) surfactant to promote DNA solubility in organic solvents and spin coat higher quality films, some success in reproducing uniform, water-based DNA thin-films on silicon and glass substrates has been achieved by incorporation of methanol as well as implementation of UV-ozone cleaning. Resulting DNA films were then subjected to cold plasma treatment to study the effects on the films via ellipsometry and spectrophotometry, where the refractive index and absorption coefficient have been characterized. Optical changes and potential novel resonance behavior induced by Ar plasma treatment encourage the continued use of Ar plasma under various conditions, as well as the use of other inert noble gases.