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An highly efficient plasmonic/photonic devices requires precise nanoscale structural control which becomes critically essential for variety of application requirements. Advancements in lithography and deposition methods provided precise sub-nm structure with complex processing steps at high cost. Self-ssembly technique involving M13 bacteriophage (phage) provides us an alternative option with easy fabrication, high selectivity/sensitivity, and altogether with low-cost methodology. With such merits, we demonstrate two kinds of applications: A highly efficient dynamic actuator and dynamic plasmonic device. From our phage-based device it is possible to precisely control thickness in 0.2 nm step or in a broader range resulting in realization of highly efficient dynamic actuator device. Thickness modification is cross-checked using localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) measurements. On the other-side, variety of interesting complex plasmonic characteristics are extensively studied and an efficient plasmonic device is realized with precise sub-nm dynamic phage thickness modification. Critically, problems involving plasmonic devices which are extremely sensitive to sub-nm scale changes (≤ 1nm) can be solved utilizing dynamic M13 phage property. To strengthen dynamic plasmonic device characteristics, we introduce the metal-coated M13 phage-based nanostructures based on a simple and straight-forward drop-casting technique. Nanowires and island/NP structures are formed with precise control and reproducibilty. Nanowires with diameter range of ~ 6.6 nm – 150 nm and islands with diameter range of ~ 100 nm – 1200 nm are fabricated. By varying the humidity, highly efficient plasmonic characteristics are realized with the help of LSPR experiments. Our home-made built-in humidity chamber equipped with atomic force microscopy measurements revealed the sub-nm thickness variation of M13 phage, which agreed well with LSPR and optical simulation results. We hope our approach utilizing M13 bacteriophage as a supporting platform will open attractive applications in field of plasmonic devices, understanding complex plasmonic modes, sensors, actuators, energy devices and few other to name.
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