A novel nanometric DNA thin film as a sensor for alpha radiation

Abstract

The unexpected nuclear accidents have provided a challenge for scientists and engineers to develop sensitive detectors, especially for alpha radiation. Due to the high linear energy transfer value, sensors designed to detect such radiation require placement in close proximity to the radiation source. Here we report the morphological changes and optical responses of artificially designed DNA thin films in response to exposure to alpha radiation as observed by an atomic force microscope, a Raman and a reflectance spectroscopes. In addition, we discuss the feasibility of a DNA thin film as a radiation sensing material. The effect of alpha radiation exposure on the DNA thin film was evaluated as a function of distance from an 241Am source and exposure time. Significant reflected intensity changes of the exposed DNA thin film suggest that a thin film made of biomolecules can be one of promising candidates for the development of online radiation sensors.

Calculation of the Electronic Parameters of an Al/DNA/p-Si Schottky Barrier Diode Influenced by Alpha Radiation

“…Our results are similar with those reported by Kulkarni et al . [ 31 ]. In the irradiated sample, clear shifting of these peaks can be observed due to the alpha exposures ( Figure 9 ).…”

Irreversible denaturation of DNA: a method to precisely control the optical and thermo-optic properties of DNA thin solid films

“…DNA thin solid films (TSFs) have drawn intense attention due to their unique potential as a highly functional layer in electronic devices [2,3] and organic lightemitting diode (OLED) devices [4]. In photonic devices, DNA-TSF layers have been also employed successfully, such as an active layer in an optical amplifier [5], a functional cladding layer in an electro-optic modulator [6], a saturable absorber in pulse generation [7], and in various optical sensors [8,9] to name a few. However, these prior DNA applications have been limited to hybrid structures such that DNA-TSFs have been embedded in device platforms made of inorganic or other types of polymer materials.…”

Vibrational characteristics of DNA nanostructures obtained through a mass-weighted chemical elastic network model

“…The signicant Raman spectra of DNA nucleotides are categorized into two regions: 400-750 cm À1 for nucleobases and 750-1200 cm À1 for sugar phosphate backbone groups. 21,22 Due to a certain limitation when taking Raman spectra through the synthetic DX tiles-exceeding the Raman signal of the 1Â TAE/ Mg 2+ buffer (40 mM Tris base, 20 mM acetic acid, 1 mM EDTA (pH 8.0), and 12.5 mM magnesium acetate) rather than the signal of the DNA molecules-we alternatively obtained them from the natural DNA duplexes extracted from salmon, which are also valid because the frequency range compared with the simulation is higher than 300 cm À1 . In that relatively high frequency range, the DNA molecule generally shows the local vibrational characteristics of backbones and specic bases.…”