title: Spin-selective transport of electrons in DNA double helix.
abstract: The experiment that the high spin selectivity and the length-dependent spin polarization are observed in double-stranded DNA [Science 331, 894 (2011)], is elucidated by considering the combination of the spin-orbit coupling, the environment-induced dephasing, and the helical symmetry. We show that the spin polarization in double-stranded DNA is significant even in the case of weak spin-orbit coupling, while no spin polarization appears in single-stranded DNA. Furthermore, the underlying physical mechanism and the parameter dependence of the spin polarization are studied.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Ai-Min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Qing-feng
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004583:Electrons; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA