Hydration dynamics of oriented DNA films investigated by time-domain terahertz spectroscopy

Abstract

The B to A conformational transition of highly oriented DNA films due to a hydration change is observed with time-domain terahertz spectroscopy. Wet-spun films of calf thymus and salmon DNA are investigated for different film thicknesses and for different polarizations of the terahertz radiation relative to the DNA orientation. A clear polarization dependence is observed. Asynchronous optical sampling allows recording of terahertz absorption and background spectra in a few 10s, permitting the tracking of the dehydration dynamics on a time scale of minutes. The observation of a phase transition is corroborated by Raman spectroscopy.