Probing radiation damage by alternated current conductivity as a method to characterize electron hopping conduction in DNA molecules

Journal Article · Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4754287· OSTI ID:22080453

Gomes, Paulo J; Coelho, Margarida; Antonio Ribeiro, Paulo; Raposo, Maria ^[1]; Dionisio, Madalena ^[2]

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1. CEFITEC, Departamento de Fisica, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, FCT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica (Portugal)
2. REQUIMTE, Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, FCT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica (Portugal)

Analysis of AC electrical conductivity of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) thin films, irradiated with ultraviolet (UV) light, revealed that electrical conduction arises from DNA chain electron hopping between base-pairs and phosphate groups. The hopping distance calculated from correlated barrier hopping model equals the distance between DNA base-pairs, which is consistent with the loss of conductivity with irradiation time arising from a decrease in phosphates groups. In the high frequency regime, at a given frequency, real part of conductivity strongly depends on irradiation time particularly for low dose levels suggesting the use of DNA based films for UV radiation sensors.

• OSTI ID: 22080453
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
DNA
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRONS
IRRADIATION
MOLECULES
PHOSPHATES
SENSORS
THIN FILMS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION