Electrical conduction in native deoxyribonucleic acid: hole hopping transfer mechanism?

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Mar 7;90(9):098101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.098101. Epub 2003 Mar 3.

Abstract

Measurements of the quasistatic and frequency dependent electric conductivity below 1 MHz were carried out on wet-spun, macroscopically oriented, calf thymus DNA bulk samples, thus effectively extending previous radio frequency data down to quasistatic time scales. The frequency dependence of the electrical conductivity in the frequency range of approximately 10(-3)-10(15) Hz agrees well with predictions of the hopping hole mechanism. Temperature dependence of the quasistatic electrical conductivity can be rather well described by the activated Arrhenius law with the activation energy of approximately 0.9 eV; however, based on the quality of the fits, the hopping ansatz cannot be ruled out.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacteriophage lambda / genetics
  • Cattle
  • DNA / chemistry*
  • DNA, Viral / chemistry
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Lithium / chemistry
  • Temperature

Substances

  • DNA, Viral
  • DNA
  • Lithium