Heavy fermion states in ionized DNA studied by first-principles calculations

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a biomolecule, however, it is also attracting attention from the perspective of solid state physics, such as superconductivity and magnetism [1]. It is widely recognized that DNA is sensitive to randomness such as impurities and lattice defects because DNA has quasi-one-dimensional properties, making it extremely difficult to control its electronic properties. Providing new guidance for controlling DNA's electronic properties expands the potential of DNA as a stage for materials science. This study used density functional theory to calculate the electronic states of DNA generating 11 holes and constructed a one-dimensional Kondo lattice model [2]. The calculation results show that hole generation realizes a heavy electron state, indicating that this heavy electron state originates from hybridization between Guanine and the backbone. Our scientific insights are expected to contribute to elucidating the various fundamental scientific properties of ionized DNA with the heavy electron states.

[1] T. Sekikawa et al., Nucl. Inst. Method B, 548, 165231 (2024).

[2] H. Tsunetsugu et al., Rev. Mod. Phys. 69, 809 (1997).