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. 2016 Mar 10;7:10946. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10946

Figure 1. Pictorial representation of the steps in the protection/deprotection strategy.

Figure 1

The nanostructure is first protected using a thermally responsive PEG-SAM (helical form). The second step is the deprotection where the nanostructure is irradiated by a nanosecond pulse laser and the subsequent localized water temperatures will cause a transition in the PEG-SAM to its elongated form. The elongated PEG-SAM will not inhibit the NTA ligands from attaching to the surface, thereby functionalizing the selective regions. Proteins can then be positioned in the particular regions for detection.