Evidence of phonon-assisted tunnelling in electrical conduction through DNA molecules

TL;DR

This paper introduces a phonon-assisted tunnelling model to explain the temperature-dependent electrical conductivity and I-V characteristics in DNA molecules, supported by comparison with experimental data.

Contribution

It presents a novel phonon-assisted tunnelling model specifically applied to DNA conductivity, linking theoretical predictions with experimental observations.

Findings

The model explains the temperature dependence of DNA conductivity.

Computed tunnelling rates match experimental I-V data.

Phonon interactions significantly influence DNA electrical conduction.

Abstract

We propose a phonon-assisted tunnelling model for explanation of conductivity dependence on temperature and temperature-dependent I-V characteristics in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules. The capability of this model for explanation of conductivity peculiarities in DNA is illustrated by comparison of the temperature dependent I-V data extracted from some articles with tunnelling rate dependences on temperature and field strength computed according to the phonon-assisted tunnelling theory. PACS Codes: 87.15.-v, 71.38.-k, 73.40.Gk