The influence of polaron size on the conductivity of poly-DNA

TL;DR

This paper investigates how polaron size affects charge transport in poly-DNA, revealing that smaller polarons move slower and are more tolerant to electric fields, while larger polarons are faster but less stable.

Contribution

It introduces a polaron model to analyze the dependence of DNA conductivity on polaron size and structural disorder effects.

Findings

Small polarons propagate slowly and tolerate electric fields well.

Large polarons are faster but less stable under electric fields.

DNA conductance decreases with structural disorder, especially at lower temperatures.

Abstract

The velocity of polaron migration in the long poly-DNA chain (~40 base pairs) in an applied electric field has been studied within a polaron model. We found that the polaron velocity strongly depends on the polaron size. A small polaron shows a slow propagation and strong tolerance to the electric field, while a large polaron is much faster and less stable with increasing electric field. Moreover, the conductance of the DNA molecule within the polaron model is found to be sensitive to structural disorders in the DNA geometry, but that dependence diminishes with increasing temperature.