Quantum transport through a DNA wire in a dissipative environment.
Electronic transport through DNA wires in the presence of a strong dissipative environment is investigated. We show that new bath-induced electronic states are formed within the band gap. These states show up in the linear conductance spectrum as a temperature dependent background and lead to a crossover from tunneling to thermal activated behavior with increasing temperature. Depending on the strength of the electron-bath coupling, the conductance at the Fermi level can show a weak exponential or even an algebraic length dependence. Our results suggest a new environmentally induced transport mechanism. This might be relevant for the understanding of molecular conduction experiments in liquid solution, such as those recently performed on poly(GC) oligomers in a water buffer (B. Xu et al., Nano Lett. 2004, 4, 1105).
Gutiérrez
R
R
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany. rafael.gutierrez@physik.uni-r.de
Mandal
S
S
Cuniberti
G
G
D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004583:Electrons; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity; D013696:Temperature
D004247:DNA