Spin-orbit interaction and spin selectivity for tunneling electron transfer in DNA

Abstract

Electron transfer (ET) in biological molecules such as peptides and proteins consists of electrons moving between well defined localized states (donors to acceptors) through a tunneling process. Here we present an analytical model for ET by tunneling in DNA, in the presence of Spin-Orbit (SO) interaction, to produce a strong spin asymmetry with the intrinsic atomic SO strength in meV range. We obtain a Hamiltonian consistent with charge transport through $\pi$ orbitals on the DNA bases and derive the behavior of ET as a function of the injection state momentum, the spin-orbit coupling and barrier length and strength. A highly consistent scenario arises where two concomitant mechanisms for spin selection arises; spin interference and differential spin amplitude decay. High spin filtering can take place at the cost of reduced amplitude transmission assuming realistic values for the spin-orbit coupling. The spin filtering scenario is completed by addressing the spin dependent torque under the barrier, with a consistent conserved definition for the spin current.

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• A Chirality-Based Quantum Leap
• Spin selectivity through time-reversal symmetric helical junctions
• Assessing the nature of chiral-induced spin-selectivity by magnetic resonance
• Mechanically modulated spin orbit couplings in oligopeptides
• Comment on: "Spin-orbit interaction and spin selectivity for tunneling electron transfer in DNA"
• Magnetoconductance Anisotropies and Aharonov-Casher Phases
• Spin-filtering in a $p$-orbital helical atomic chain
• Mind the Gap: From Resolving Theoretical Foundations of Chiral(ity)-Induced Spin Selectivity to Pioneering Implementations in Quantum Sensing
• Electronic and Spin States at Edges of Finite $p$-orbital Helical Atomic Chain
• Chirality Induced Propagation Velocity Asymmetry