Visible light-induced thymine dimerisation based on large localised field gradient by non-uniform optical near-field

The localised excitations of several molecular reactions utilising optical irradiation have been studied in the field of molecular physics. In particular, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) strands organise the genetic information of all living matter. Therefore, artificial methods for freely controlling reactions using only light irradiation are highly desirable for reactions of these strands; this in regard with artificial protein synthesis, regional genetic curing, and stochastic analysis of several genetic expressions. Generally, DNA strands have strong absorption features in the deep ultra-violet (DUV) region, which are related to the degradation and reconstruction of the strand bonding structures. However, irradiation by DUV light unavoidably induces unintended molecular reactions which can damage and break the DNA strands. In this paper, we report a photo-induced molecular reaction initiated by the irradiation of DNA strands with visible light. We utilised photo-dissociation from the vibrational levels induced by non-uniform optical near-fields surrounding nanometric Au particles to which DNA strands were attached. The results were experimentally observed by a reduction in the DUV absorbance of the DNA strands during irradiation. There was a much higher yield of molecular reactions than expected due to the absorbance of visible light, and no defects were caused in the DNA strands.