Review of biomaterials for electronics and photonics

Much work has been done developing and utilizing biomaterials over the last decade. Biomaterials not only includes deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), but nucleobases and silk. These materials are abundant, inexpensive, non-fossil fuel-based and green. Researchers have demonstrated their potential to enhance the performance of organic and inorganic electronic and photonic devices, such as light emitting diodes, thin film transistors, capacitors, electromagnetic interference shielding and electro-optic modulators. Starting around the year 2000, with only a hand full of researchers, including researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and researchers at the Chitose Institute of Technology (CIST), it has grown into a large US, Asia and European consortium, producing over 3400 papers, three books, many book chapters and multiple patents. Presented here is a short overview of the progress in this exciting field of nano bio-engineering.