Stacks of nucleic acids as molecular wires: direct measurement of the intermolecular band dispersion in multilayer guanine assemblies.

ABSTRACT

The intermolecular band dispersion related to the highest occupied molecular orbital in highly ordered, hydrated multilayer films of the DNA base guanine has been measured using photon-energy-dependent ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. A bandwidth of 331 ± 8 meV at room temperature and a small effective mass of about 1.11 times that of a free charge suggest a high intrinsic hole mobility along quasi-one-dimensional stacks formed perpendicular to layered, hydrogen-bound networks.