Particle detection and tracking with DNA

TL;DR

This paper introduces the concept of DNA-based particle detectors, demonstrating through simulations that they can achieve high spatial and angular resolution for particle tracking, with potential applications in low-energy physics.

Contribution

It presents the first Monte Carlo simulations of DNA detectors, showing their potential for precise particle tracking and outlining experimental challenges for future development.

Findings

High spatial resolution (nm scale) achievable

Angular resolution better than 25 degrees for keV particles

Potential for cost-effective, portable particle detection

Abstract

We present the first proof-of-concept simulations of detectors using biomaterials to detect particle interactions. The essential idea behind a "DNA detector" involves the attachment of a forest of precisely-sequenced single or double-stranded nucleic acids from a thin holding layer made of a high-density material. Incoming particles break a series of strands along a roughly co-linear chain of interaction sites and the severed segments then fall to a collection area. Since the sequences of base pairs in nucleic acid molecules can be precisely amplified and measured using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the original spatial position of each broken strand inside the detector can be reconstructed with nm precision. Motivated by the potential use as a low-energy directional particle tracker, we perform the first Monte Carlo simulations of particle interactions inside a DNA detector. We compare the track topology as a function of incoming direction, energy, and particle type for a range of ionising particles. While particle identification and energy reconstruction might be challenging without a significant scale-up, the excellent potential angular and spatial resolution ($\lesssim 25^\circ$ axial resolution for a keV-scale particles and nm-scale track segments) are clear advantages of this concept. We conclude that a DNA detector could be a cost-effective, portable, and powerful new particle detection technology. We outline the outstanding experimental challenges, and suggest directions for future laboratory tests.