Magneto-optics in pure and defective Ga_{1-x}Mn_xAs from first-principles

The magneto-optical properties of Ga$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$As including their most common defects were investigated with precise first--principles density-functional FLAPW calculations in order to: {\em i}) elucidate the origin of the features in the Kerr spectra in terms of the underlying electronic structure; {\em ii}) perform an accurate comparison with experiments; and {\em iii}) understand the role of the Mn concentration and occupied sites in shaping the spectra. In the substitutional case, our results show that most of the features have an interband origin and are only slightly affected by Drude--like contributions, even at low photon energies. While not strongly affected by the Mn concentration for the intermediately diluted range ($x\sim$ 10%), the Kerr factor shows a marked minimum (up to 1.5$^o$) occurring at a photon energy of $\sim$ 0.5 eV. For interstitial Mn, the calculated results bear a striking resemblance to the experimental spectra, pointing to the comparison between simulated and experimental Kerr angles as a valid tool to distinguish different defects in the diluted magnetic semiconductors framework.Comment: 10 pages including 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Carrier-Induced Magnetic Circular Dichloism in the Magnetoresistive Pyrochlore Tl2Mn2O7

Infrared magnetic circular dichloism (MCD), or equivalently magneto-optical Kerr effect, has been measured on the Tl2Mn2O7 pyrochlore, which is well known for exhibiting a large magnetoresistance around the Curie temperature T_C ~ 120 K. A circularly polarized, infrared synchrotron radiation is used as the light source. A pronounced MCD signal is observed exactly at the plasma edge of the reflectivity near and below T_c. However, contrary to the conventional behavior of MCD for ferromagnets, the observed MCD of Tl2Mn2O7 grows with the applied magnetic field, and not scaled with the internal magnetization. It is shown that these results can be basically understood in terms of a classical magnetoplasma resonance. The absence of a magnetization-scaled MCD indicates a weak spin-orbit coupling of the carriers in Tl2Mn2O7. We discuss the present results in terms of the microscopic electronic structures of Tl2Mn2O7.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Spectral compression of single photons

Photons are critical to quantum technologies since they can be used for virtually all quantum information tasks: in quantum metrology, as the information carrier in photonic quantum computation, as a mediator in hybrid systems, and to establish long distance networks. The physical characteristics of photons in these applications differ drastically; spectral bandwidths span 12 orders of magnitude from 50 THz for quantum-optical coherence tomography to 50 Hz for certain quantum memories. Combining these technologies requires coherent interfaces that reversibly map centre frequencies and bandwidths of photons to avoid excessive loss. Here we demonstrate bandwidth compression of single photons by a factor 40 and tunability over a range 70 times that bandwidth via sum-frequency generation with chirped laser pulses. This constitutes a time-to-frequency interface for light capable of converting time-bin to colour entanglement and enables ultrafast timing measurements. It is a step toward arbitrary waveform generation for single and entangled photons.Comment: 6 pages (4 figures) + 6 pages (3 figures

State Transfer Between a Mechanical Oscillator and Microwave Fields in the Quantum Regime

Recently, macroscopic mechanical oscillators have been coaxed into a regime of quantum behavior, by direct refrigeration [1] or a combination of refrigeration and laser-like cooling [2, 3]. This exciting result has encouraged notions that mechanical oscillators may perform useful functions in the processing of quantum information with superconducting circuits [1, 4-7], either by serving as a quantum memory for the ephemeral state of a microwave field or by providing a quantum interface between otherwise incompatible systems [8, 9]. As yet, the transfer of an itinerant state or propagating mode of a microwave field to and from a mechanical oscillator has not been demonstrated owing to the inability to agilely turn on and off the interaction between microwave electricity and mechanical motion. Here we demonstrate that the state of an itinerant microwave field can be coherently transferred into, stored in, and retrieved from a mechanical oscillator with amplitudes at the single quanta level. Crucially, the time to capture and to retrieve the microwave state is shorter than the quantum state lifetime of the mechanical oscillator. In this quantum regime, the mechanical oscillator can both store and transduce quantum information

β-Catenin is a pH sensor with decreased stability at higher intracellular pH.

β-Catenin functions as an adherens junction protein for cell-cell adhesion and as a signaling protein. β-catenin function is dependent on its stability, which is regulated by protein-protein interactions that stabilize β-catenin or target it for proteasome-mediated degradation. In this study, we show that β-catenin stability is regulated by intracellular pH (pHi) dynamics, with decreased stability at higher pHi in both mammalian cells and Drosophila melanogaster β-Catenin degradation requires phosphorylation of N-terminal residues for recognition by the E3 ligase β-TrCP. While β-catenin phosphorylation was pH independent, higher pHi induced increased β-TrCP binding and decreased β-catenin stability. An evolutionarily conserved histidine in β-catenin (found in the β-TrCP DSGIHS destruction motif) is required for pH-dependent binding to β-TrCP. Expressing a cancer-associated H36R-β-catenin mutant in the Drosophila eye was sufficient to induce Wnt signaling and produced pronounced tumors not seen with other oncogenic β-catenin alleles. We identify pHi dynamics as a previously unrecognized regulator of β-catenin stability, functioning in coincidence with phosphorylation

Spin-dependent transport in metal/semiconductor tunnel junctions

This paper describes a model as well as experiments on spin-polarized tunnelling with the aid of optical spin orientation. This involves tunnel junctions between a magnetic material and gallium arsenide (GaAs), where the latter is optically excited with circularly polarized light in order to generate spin-polarized carriers. A transport model is presented that takes account of carrier capture in the semiconductor surface states, and describes the semiconductor surface in terms of a spin-dependent energy distribution function. The so-called surface spin-splitting can be calculated from the balance of the polarized electron and hole flow in the semiconductor subsurface region, the polarized tunnelling current across the tunnel barrier between the magnetic material and the semiconductor surface, and the spin relaxation at the semiconductor surface. Measurements are presented of the circular-polarization-dependent photocurrent (the so-called helicity asymmetry) in thin-film tunnel junctions of Co/Al2O3/GaAs. In the absence of a tunnel barrier, the helicity asymmetry is caused by magneto-optical effects (magnetic circular dichroism). In the case where a tunnel barrier is present, the data cannot be explained by magneto-optical effects alone; the deviations provide evidence that spin-polarized tunnelling due to optical spin orientation occurs. In Co/τ-MnAl/AlAs/GaAs junctions no deviations from the magneto-optical effects are observed, most probably due to the weak spin polarization of τ-MnAl along the tunnelling direction; the latter is corroborated by bandstructure calculations. Finally, the application of photoexcited GaAs for spin-polarized tunnelling in a scanning tunnelling microscope is discussed.