Theoretical Estimation of the Conductivity of Different Periodic DNA Models

Abstract

Using the deformation‐potential approximation, we have estimated the conductivity of some periodic DNA models. The necessary band structures we had determined previously using the tight‐binding approximation. We have obtained separately the contributions to the conductivity of the mobile electrons and the positive holes. For the total conductivities (σ0) we have obtained values between 103−105Ω−1·cm−1. In the cases when the conduction bands are rather narrow we have obtained much larger values for the electronic contribution than for the contribution of the positive holes. This discrepancy can be interpreted within the framework of the deformation potential approximation, but it makes questionable the applicability of this method for narrow bands.