Amphiphilic Silica Nanoparticles at the Decane−Water Interface: Insights from Atomistic Simulations

The properties of 3 nm-diameter silica nanoparticles with different surface chemistry were systematically investigated at the decane−water interface using molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that the decane−water interfacial tension is not much influenced by the presence of the nanoparticles. The three-phase contact angle increases with nanoparticle surface hydrophobicity. Contact angles observed for the nanoparticles at 300 and at 350 K differ very little. The contact angle of the nanoparticle with randomly dispersed hydrophobic groups is smaller than that observed in Janus nanoparticles of equal overall surface chemistry composition. The energy necessary to desorb Janus nanoparticles from the interface is usually higher than that required to desorb the corresponding homogeneous nanoparticles. Desorption from the interface into the aqueous phase is preferred over that into the organic phase for all except one of the nanoparticles considered. Structural and dynamic properties including nanoparticle rotational relaxation, solvent density profiles, and solvent residence autocorrelation functions near the nanoparticles are also presented. The data are useful for designing Pickering emulsions

Assessment of bias.

a: Evaluated as moderate risk in secondary analysis (low risk in primary analysis) due to incomparable treatment effect. b: Studies only eligible for secondary analysis. c: In the study of Andersen (2013), the OR was adjusted by maternal age, number of previous miscarriages, income and education. d: In the study of Le guyen, the OR was adjusted by maternal age, long-term illnesses, parity and multiple pregnancy. e: In the study of Meeraus (2015), the Hazard Ratio was adjusted by maternal age, Townsend quintile, year of delivery, smoking, alcohol problems, obesity, illicit drug use, treatment of chronic medical conditions and potentially neurologically-damaging infection during pregnancy. f: In the study of Muanda (2017), cases and controls were matched by gestational age and year of pregnancy; in the analysis of specific macrolides, the ORs were adjusted by 11 covariates, e.g. maternal age, education level, chronic comorbidities, maternal infections (urinary tract infection, respiratory tract infection, bacterial vaginosis and sexually transmitted infections) and prior exposure to antibiotics.</p

Primary and secondary analysis for the association between prenatal use of macrolides and adverse child outcomes.

Primary and secondary analysis for the association between prenatal use of macrolides and adverse child outcomes.</p

Study selection.

Study selection.</p

Naturally Phase Matched Lithium Niobate Nanocircuits for Integrated Nonlinear Photonics

High complexity, dense integrated nanophotonic circuits possessing strong nonlinearities are desirable for a breadth of applications in classical and quantum optics. In this work, we study natural phase matching via modal engineering in lithium niobate (LN) waveguides and microring resonators on chip for second harmonic generation (SHG). By carefully engineering the geometry dispersion, we observe a $26\%~W^{-1}cm^{-2}$ normalized efficiency for SHG in a waveguide with submicron transverse mode confinement. With similar cross-sectional dimensions, we demonstrate phase matched SHG in a microring resonator with 10 times enhancement on the out-coupled second-harmonic power. Our platform is capable of harnessing the strongest optical nonlinear and electro-optic effects in LN on chip with unrestricted planar circuit layouts. It offers opportunities for dense and scalable integration of efficient photonic devices with low loss and high nonlinearity

All-optical control of thermal conduction in waveguide QED

We investigate the heat conduction between two one-dimension waveguides intermediated by a Laser-driving atom. The Laser provides the optical control on the heat conduction. The tunable asymmetric conduction of the heat against the temperature gradient is realized. Assisted by the modulated Laser, the heat conduction from either waveguide to the other waveguide can be suppressed. Meanwhile, the conduction towards the direction opposite to the suppressed one is gained. The heat currents can be significantly amplified by the energy flow of the Laser. Moveover, the scheme can act like a heat engine

Photon Conversion in Thin-film Lithium Niobate Nanowaveguides: A Noise Analysis

Wavelength transduction of single-photon signals is indispensable to networked quantum applications, particularly those incorporating quantum memories. Lithium niobate nanophotonic devices have demonstrated favorable linear, nonlinear, and electro-optical properties to deliver this crucial function while offering superiror efficiency, integrability, and scalability. Yet, their quantum noise level--an crucial metric for any single-photon based application--has yet to be understood. In this work, we report the first study with the focus on telecom to near-visible conversion driven by a telecom pump of small detuning, for practical considerations in distributed quantum processing over fiber networks. Our results find the noise level to be on the order of $10^{-4}$ photons per time-frequency mode for high conversion, allowing faithful pulsed operations. Through carefully analyzing the origins of such noise and each's dependence on the pump power and wavelength detuning, we have also identified a formula for noise suppression to $10^{-5}$ photons per mode. Our results assert a viable, low-cost, and modular approach to networked quantum processing and beyond using lithium niobate nanophotonics

Ultra-bright Quantum Photon Sources on Chip

Quantum photon sources of high rate, brightness, and purity are increasingly desirable as quantum information systems are quickly scaled up and applied to many fields. Using a periodically poled lithium niobate microresonator on chip, we demonstrate photon-pair generation at high rates of 8.5 MHz and 36.3 MHz using only 3.4-$\mu$W and 13.4-$\mu$W pump power, respectively, marking orders of magnitude improvement over the state-of-the-art. The measured coincidence to accidental ratio is well above 100 at those high rates and reaches $14,682\pm 4427$ at a lower pump power. The same chip enables heralded single-photon generation at tens of megahertz rates, each with low auto-correlation $g^{(2)}_{H}(0)=0.008$ and $0.097$ for the microwatt pumps. Such distinct performance, facilitated by the chip device's noiseless and giant optical nonlinearity, will contribute to the forthcoming pervasive adoption of quantum optical information technologies

Photon Conversion and Interaction on Chip

The conversion and interaction between quantum signals at a single-photon level are essential for scalable quantum photonic information technology. Using a fully-optimized, periodically-poled lithium niobate microring, we demonstrate ultra-efficient sum-frequency generation on chip. The external quantum efficiency reaches $(65\pm3)\%$ with only $(104\pm4)$ $\mu$W pump power, improving the state-of-the-art by over one order of magnitude. At the peak conversion, $3\times10^{-5}$ noise photon is created during the cavity lifetime, which meets the requirement of quantum applications using single-photon pulses. Using pump and signal in single-photon coherent states, we directly measure the conversion probability produced by a single pump photon to be $10^{-5}$ -- breaking the record by 100 times -- and the photon-photon coupling strength to be 9.1 MHz. Our results mark a new milestone toward quantum nonlinear optics at the ultimate single photon limit, creating new background in highly integrated photonics and quantum optical computing

Efficient Frequency Doubling with Active Stabilization on Chip

Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) is superior for integrated nanophotonics due to its outstanding properties in nearly all aspects: strong second-order nonlinearity, fast and efficient electro-optic effects, wide transparency window, and little two photon absorption and free carrier scattering. Together, they permit highly integrated nanophotonic circuits capable of complex photonic processing by incorporating disparate elements on the same chip. Yet, there has to be a demonstration that synergizes those superior properties for system advantage. Here we demonstrate such a chip that capitalizes on TFLNs favorable ferroelectricity, high second-order nonlinearity, and strong electro-optic effects. It consists of a monolithic circuit integrating a Z-cut, quasi-phase matched microring with high quality factor and a phase modulator used in active feedback control. By Pound-Drever-Hall locking, it realizes stable frequency doubling at about 50% conversion with only milliwatt pump, marking the highest by far among all nanophotonic platforms with milliwatt pumping. Our demonstration addresses a long-outstanding challenge facing cavity-based optical processing, including frequency conversion, frequency comb generation, and all-optical switching, whose stable performance is hindered by photorefractive or thermal effects. Our results further establish TFLN as an excellent material capable of optical multitasking, as desirable to build multi-functional chip devices