Effective models for charge transport in DNA nanowires

Abstract

The rapid progress in the field of molecular electronics has led to an increasing interest on DNA oligomers as possible components of electronic circuits at the nanoscale. For this, however, an understanding of charge transfer and transport mechanisms in this molecule is required. Experiments show that a large number of factors may influence the electronic properties of DNA. Though full first principle approaches are the ideal tool for a theoretical characterization of the structural and electronic properties of DNA, the complexity of this molecule make these methods of limited use. Consequently, model Hamiltonian approaches, which filter out single factors influencing charge propagation in the double helix are highly valuable. In this chapter, we give a review of different DNA models which are thought to capture the influence of some of these factors. We will specifically focus on static and dynamic disorder.