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Giant Acceleration of DNA Diffusion in an Array of Entropic Barriers
Daniel Kim1, Clark Bowman2, Jackson T Del Bonis-O'Donnell1
1Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
Abstract:
We investigate with experiments and computer simulations the nonequilibrium dynamics of DNA polymers crossing arrays of entropic barriers in nanofluidic devices in a pressure-driven flow. With increasing driving pressure, the effective diffusivity of DNA rises and then peaks at a value that is many times higher than the equilibrium diffusivity. This is an entropic manifestation of "giant acceleration of diffusion." The phenomenon is sensitive to the effective energy landscape; thus, it offers a unique probe of entropic barriers in a system driven away from equilibrium.
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