Laser-assisted deposition of preformed mesoscopic systems

The deposition of preformed mesoscopic structures of molecular organizates with desirable orientation and architecture is a challenging problem. Conventional methods such as the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, solvent evaporation, vacuum deposition are either cumbersome, non-specific or harsh. Moreover, they suffer from the intervening effect of solvents. Laser ablation is often used to prepare films of inorganic materials or to etch away organic material. We have used nanosecond and picosecond laser pulses to ablate preformed organizates of detergent (SDS) dispersed enzyme (GOD). The matrix consisting of detergent serves two purposes. Firstly, it prevents aggregation of enzyme. Secondly, the lability and thermal sensitivity of the matrix assist in the process of ablation. The films and ablated material were characterized using a variety of techniques. The conformation of GOD as judged by Trp and flavin fluorescence and circular dichroism were found to be similar to native molecule. The activity of enzyme was found to be comparable with that of native molecule.