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First-Principles Transversal DNA Conductance Deconstructed

X.-G. Zhang ^* , Predrag S. Krsti , Radomir Ziki , Jack C. Wells ^*  and Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera ^* 

^* Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, and Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831

Correspondence: Address reprint requests and inquiries to X.-G. Zhang, Tel: 865-241-0200; E-mail: xgz{at}ornl.gov.

First-principles calculation of the transverse conductance across DNA fragments placed between gold nanoelectrodes reveals that such conductance describes electron tunneling that depends critically on geometrical rather than electronic-structure properties. By factoring the first-principles result into two simple and approximately independent tunneling factors, we show that the conductances of the A, C, G, and T fragments differ only because of their sizes: the larger is the DNA base, the smaller its distance to the electrode, and the larger its conductance. Because the geometrical factors are difficult to control in an experiment, the direct-current measurements across DNA with gold contact electrodes may not be a convenient approach to DNA sequencing.