Probing nucleobase photoprotection with soft x-rays

Nucleobases absorb strongly in the ultraviolet region, leading to molecular excitation into reactive states. The molecules avoid the photoreactions by funnelling the electronic energy into less reactive states on an ultrafast timescale via non-Born-Oppenheimer dynamics. Current theory on the nucleobase thymine discusses two conflicting pathways for the photoprotective dynamics. We present our first results of our free electron laser based UV-pump soft x-ray-probe study of the photoprotection mechanism of thymine. We use the high spatial sensitivity of the Auger electrons emitted after the soft x-ray pulse induced core ionization. Our transient spetra show two timescales on the order of 200 fs and 5 ps, in agreement with previous (all UV) ultrafast experiments. The timescales appear at different Auger kinetic energies which will help us to decipher the molecular dynamics

Captivating behaviour: mouse models, experimental genetics and reductionist returns in the neurosciences

This a post-print, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in The Sociological Review. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Blackwell. The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.comNo Abstract availabl

Q-Band Monolithic GaAs PHEMT Low Noise Amplifiers: Comparative Study of Depletion and Enhancement Mode Transistors

Two Q-band monolithic low noise amplifiers have been designed and characterized. A study about depletion and enhancement mode HEMTs with the same technology has been performed in order to apply these results to the design of the low noise amplifiers. These circuits have been developed for being used in the Back End module of the radiometers in the European Scientific mission Planck, because there are not commercial circuits available in this frequency band. The main goals for these amplifiers are low noise with a small DC consumption. A minimum noise figure of 2.8 dB with an associated gain of 23.1 dB at 40.4 GHz has been measured for the E-HEMT MMIC LNA and its DC current consumption was 15.4 mA. The D-HEMT MMIC LNA has a minimum noise figure of 3 dB with an associated gain of 23.2 dB at 42 GHz and 30 mA of DC current consumption

Experimental strategies for optical pump - Soft x-ray probe experiments at the LCLS

Free electron laser (FEL) based x-ray sources show great promise for use in ultrafast molecular studies due to the short pulse durations and site/element sensitivity in this spectral range. However, the self amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process mostly used in FELs is intrinsically noisy resulting in highly fluctuating beam parameters. Additionally timing synchronization of optical and FEL sources adds delay jitter in pump-probe experiments. We show how we mitigate the effects of source noise for the case of ultrafast molecular spectroscopy of the nucleobase thymine. Using binning and resorting techniques allows us to increase time and spectral resolution. In addition, choosing observables independent of noisy beam parameters enhances the signal fidelity

K-shell double core-hole spectroscopy in molecules

A great deal of attention has been devoted in the last few years to photoionization processes in isolated molecules leading to the formation of double core-hole (DCH) states. There are two main experimental avenues to induce such processes, namely single-photon absorption followed by the simultaneous ejection of two core electrons, and x-ray-induced multiphoton processes leading to the production of DCH states via the sequential absorption of two soft x- ray photons on a time scale on the order of the molecular Auger lifetime (4–8 femtoseconds for light elements). The formation of molecular two-site (ts) DCH states, in particular, shows great potential as a powerful tool for chemical analysis. A compelling motivation for the study of ts-DCH states is their ability to probe the local chemical environment more sensitively than either single core-hole (SCH) or single-site (ss) DCH states. The enhanced sensitivity originates from the fact that the double ionization potential (DIP) of ts-DCH states is directly coupled to induced changes in the valence charge distribution at the two different atomic sites. Here a review of the recent literature is presented on both types of experiments, and on the related theoretical work