58,755 research outputs found
Quantum Transport in Semiconductor Nanostructures
I. Introduction (Preface, Nanostructures in Si Inversion Layers,
Nanostructures in GaAs-AlGaAs Heterostructures, Basic Properties).
II. Diffusive and Quasi-Ballistic Transport (Classical Size Effects, Weak
Localization, Conductance Fluctuations, Aharonov-Bohm Effect, Electron-Electron
Interactions, Quantum Size Effects, Periodic Potential).
III. Ballistic Transport (Conduction as a Transmission Problem, Quantum Point
Contacts, Coherent Electron Focusing, Collimation, Junction Scattering,
Tunneling).
IV. Adiabatic Transport (Edge Channels and the Quantum Hall Effect, Selective
Population and Detection of Edge Channels, Fractional Quantum Hall Effect,
Aharonov-Bohm Effect in Strong Magnetic Fields, Magnetically Induced Band
Structure).Comment: 111 pages including 109 figures; this review from 1991 has retained
much of its usefulness, but it was not yet available electronicall
Calibrating evanescent-wave penetration depths for biological TIRF microscopy
Roughly half of a cells proteins are located at or near the plasma membrane.
In this restricted space the cell senses its environment, signals to its
neighbors and ex-changes cargo through exo- and endocytotic mechanisms. Ligands
bind to receptors, ions flow across channel pores, and transmitters and
metabolites are transported against con-centration gradients. Receptors, ion
channels, pumps and transporters are the molecular substrates of these
biological processes and they constitute important targets for drug discovery.
Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy suppresses background from
cell deeper layers and provides contrast for selectively imaging dynamic
processes near the basal membrane of live-cells. The optical sectioning of
total internal reflection fluorescence is based on the excitation confinement
of the evanescent wave generated at the glass-cell interface. How deep the
excitation light actually penetrates the sample is difficult to know, making
the quantitative interpretation of total internal reflection fluorescence data
problematic. Nevertheless, many applications like super-resolution microscopy,
colocalization, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, near-membrane
fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, uncaging or
photo-activation-switching, as well as single-particle tracking require the
quantitative interpretation of evanescent-wave excited images. Here, we review
existing techniques for characterizing evanescent fields and we provide a
roadmap for comparing total internal reflection fluorescence data across
images, experiments, and laboratories.Comment: 18 text pages, 7 figures and one supplemental figur
The ECLAIRs telescope onboard the SVOM mission for gamma-ray burst studies
The X- and gamma-ray telescope ECLAIRs onboard the future mission for
gamma-ray burst studies SVOM (Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable
Objects Monitor) is foreseen to operate in orbit from 2013 on. ECLAIRs will
provide fast and accurate GRB triggers to other onboard telescopes, as well as
to the whole GRB community, in particular ground-based follow-up telescopes.
With its very low energy threshold ECLAIRs is particularly well suited for the
detection of highly redshifted GRB. The ECLAIRs X- and gamma-ray imaging camera
(CXG), used for GRB detection and localization, is combined with a soft X-ray
telescope (SXT) for afterglow observations and position refinement. The CXG is
a 2D-coded mask imager with a 1024 cm detection plane made of 8080
CdTe pixels, sensitive from 4 to 300 keV, with imaging capabilities up to about
120 keV and a localization accuracy better than 10 arcmin. The CXG permanently
observes a 2 sr-wide field of the sky and provides photon data to the onboard
science and triggering unit (UTS) which detects GRB by count-rate increases or
by the appearance of a new source in cyclic sky images. The SXT is a mirror
focusing X-ray telescope operating from 0.3 to 2 keV with a sensitivity of 1
mCrab for 100 s observations. The spacecraft slews within 3 min in
order to place the GRB candidate into the 2323 arcmin field of view
of the SXT, after which it refines the GRB position to about 10 arcsec. GRB
alerts are transmitted to ground-observers within tens of seconds via a VHF
network and all detected photons are available hours later for detailed
analysis. In this paper we present the ECLAIRs concepts, with emphasis on the
expected performances.Comment: on behalf of the ECLAIRs collaboration. Proceedings of Gamma-Ray
Bursts 2007 conference, Santa Fe, USA, 5-9 November 2007. Published in AIP
conf. proc. 1000, 581-584 (2008
Demixing light paths inside disordered metamaterials
We experimentally demonstrate the first method to focus light inside disordered photonic metamaterials. In such materials, scattering prevents light from forming a geometric focus. Instead of geometric optics, we used multi-path interference to make the scattering process itself concentrate light on a fluorescent nanoscale probe at the target position. Our method uses the fact that the disorder in a solid material is fixed in time. Therefore, even disordered light scattering is deterministic. Measurements of the probes fluorescence provided the information needed to construct a specific linear combination of hundreds of incident waves, which interfere constructively at the probe.\ud
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The High Energy Telescope on EXIST
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a proposed next
generation multi-wavelength survey mission. The primary instrument is a High
Energy telescope (HET) that conducts the deepest survey for Gamma-ray Bursts
(GRBs), obscured-accreting and dormant Supermassive Black Holes and Transients
of all varieties for immediate followup studies by the two secondary
instruments: a Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) and an Optical/Infrared Telescope (IRT).
EXIST will explore the early Universe using high redshift GRBs as cosmic probes
and survey black holes on all scales. The HET is a coded aperture telescope
employing a large array of imaging CZT detectors (4.5 m^2, 0.6 mm pixel) and a
hybrid Tungsten mask. We review the current HET concept which follows an
intensive design revision by the HET imaging working group and the recent
engineering studies in the Instrument and Mission Design Lab at the Goddard
Space Flight Center. The HET will locate GRBs and transients quickly (<10-30
sec) and accurately (< 20") for rapid (< 1-3 min) onboard followup soft X-ray
and optical/IR (0.3-2.2 micron) imaging and spectroscopy. The broad energy band
(5-600 keV) and the wide field of view (~90 deg x 70 deg at 10% coding
fraction) are optimal for capturing GRBs, obscured AGNs and rare transients.
The continuous scan of the entire sky every 3 hours will establish a
finely-sampled long-term history of many X-ray sources, opening up new
possibilities for variability studies.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, SPIE conference proceedings (UV,
X-ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XVI, 7435-9
Proceedings of the second "international Traveling Workshop on Interactions between Sparse models and Technology" (iTWIST'14)
The implicit objective of the biennial "international - Traveling Workshop on
Interactions between Sparse models and Technology" (iTWIST) is to foster
collaboration between international scientific teams by disseminating ideas
through both specific oral/poster presentations and free discussions. For its
second edition, the iTWIST workshop took place in the medieval and picturesque
town of Namur in Belgium, from Wednesday August 27th till Friday August 29th,
2014. The workshop was conveniently located in "The Arsenal" building within
walking distance of both hotels and town center. iTWIST'14 has gathered about
70 international participants and has featured 9 invited talks, 10 oral
presentations, and 14 posters on the following themes, all related to the
theory, application and generalization of the "sparsity paradigm":
Sparsity-driven data sensing and processing; Union of low dimensional
subspaces; Beyond linear and convex inverse problem; Matrix/manifold/graph
sensing/processing; Blind inverse problems and dictionary learning; Sparsity
and computational neuroscience; Information theory, geometry and randomness;
Complexity/accuracy tradeoffs in numerical methods; Sparsity? What's next?;
Sparse machine learning and inference.Comment: 69 pages, 24 extended abstracts, iTWIST'14 website:
http://sites.google.com/site/itwist1
Three-dimensional super-resolution correlation-differential confocal microscopy with nanometer axial focusing accuracy
We present a correlation-differential confocal microscopy (CDCM), a novel method that can simultaneously improve the three-dimensional spatial resolution and axial focusing accuracy of confocal microscopy (CM). CDCM divides the CM imaging light path into two paths, where the detectors are before and after the focus with an equal axial offset in opposite directions. Then, the light intensity signals received from the two paths are processed by the correlation product and differential subtraction to improve the CM spatial resolution and axial focusing accuracy, respectively. Theoretical analyses and preliminary experiments indicate that, for the excitation wavelength of λ = 405 nm, numerical aperture of NA = 0.95, and the normalized axial offset of uM = 5.21, the CDCM resolution is improved by more than 20% and more than 30% in the lateral and axial directions, respectively, compared with that of the CM. Also, the axial focusing resolution important for the imaging of sample surface profiles is improved to 1 nm
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