Diffraction in low-energy electron scattering from DNA: bridging gas phase and solid state theory

TL;DR

This paper combines gas phase calculations and multiple scattering theory to understand how low-energy electrons cause radiation damage to DNA, bridging the gap between gas phase and solid state theories.

Contribution

It introduces a method to connect gas phase electron scattering with condensed phase effects, enhancing understanding of DNA damage mechanisms.

Findings

Resonant features are linked to molecular diffraction effects.

Calculations align with experimental data on thin DNA films.

Insights into the origin of electron-induced DNA damage.

Abstract

Using high-quality gas phase electron scattering calculations and multiple scattering theory, we attempt to gain insights on the radiation damage to DNA induced by secondary low-energy electrons in the condensed phase, and to bridge the existing gap with the gas phase theory and experiments. The origin of different resonant features (arising from single molecules or diffraction) is discussed and the calculations are compared to existing experiments in thin films.