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Title: Quantum-mechanical predictions of electron-induced ionization cross sections of DNA components

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4802962· OSTI ID:22118499
 [1]
  1. Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan (CENBG), CNRS/IN2P3, Universite Bordeaux 1, Chemin du Solarium, BP120, 33175 Gradignan (France)

Ionization of biomolecules remains still today rarely investigated on both the experimental and the theoretical sides. In this context, the present work appears as one of the first quantum mechanical approaches providing a multi-differential description of the electron-induced ionization process of the main DNA components for impact energies ranging from the target ionization threshold up to about 10 keV. The cross section calculations are here performed within the 1st Born approximation framework in which the ejected electron is described by a Coulomb wave whereas the incident and the scattered electrons are both described by a plane wave. The biological targets of interest, namely, the DNA nucleobases and the sugar-phosphate backbone, are here described by means of the GAUSSIAN 09 system using the restricted Hartree-Fock method with geometry optimization. The theoretical predictions also obtained have shown a reasonable agreement with the experimental total ionization cross sections while huge discrepancies have been pointed out with existing theoretical models, mainly developed within a semi-classical framework.

OSTI ID:
22118499
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 138, Issue 18; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English