129 research outputs found
Characteristics of GaInNAsSb VCSELs operating near 1.55µm
A detailed study of the high-power pulsed operation of C-band optically-pumped GaInNAsSb vertical cavity surface emitting lasers is reported. The devices employ a resonant periodic gain structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a GaAs substrate with a 31-pair GaAs/AlAs bottom distributed Bragg reflector and a 4-λ, GaAs-based resonant cavity containing 10 GaInNAsSb quantum wells distributed among the 7 antinodes of the electric field. A dual-pump-band SiO2/TiO2 dielectric top mirror allows efficient optical pumping via low reflectivities at 808nm and 1064nm while providing very high reflectivity at the 1.55μm target emission wavelength. The laser characteristics were evaluated using both a Q-switched Nd:YAG 1064nm pump and a 20W-peak 180ns-pulsed 850nm diode laser. The importance of the gain-cavity detuning was evident from time-dependent spectral measurements of laser material subjected to post-growth annealing at different temperatures between 725 and 775°C. The highest annealing temperature produces the largest blue shift of the gain peak relative to the cavity resonance, resulting in the best power transfer characteristics as well as reduced temperature sensitivity
Tuning the exciton g-factor in single InAs/InP quantum dots
Photoluminescence data from single, self-assembled InAs/InP quantum dots in
magnetic fields up to 7 T are presented. Exciton g-factors are obtained for
dots of varying height, corresponding to ground state emission energies ranging
from 780 meV to 1100 meV. A monotonic increase of the g-factor from -2 to +1.2
is observed as the dot height decreases. The trend is well reproduced by sp3
tight binding calculations, which show that the hole g-factor is sensitive to
confinement effects through orbital angular momentum mixing between the
light-hole and heavy-hole valence bands. We demonstrate tunability of the
exciton g-factor by manipulating the quantum dot dimensions using pyramidal InP
nanotemplates
Surface Screening Charge and Effective Charge
The charge on an atom at a metallic surface in an electric field is defined
as the field-derivative of the force on the atom, and this is consistent with
definitions of effective charge and screening charge. This charge can be found
from the shift in the potential outside the surface when the atoms are moved.
This is used to study forces and screening on surface atoms of Ag(001)
c -- Xe as a function of external field. It is found that at low
positive (outward) fields, the Xe with a negative effective charge of -0.093
is pushed into the surface. At a field of 2.3 V \AA the charge
changes sign, and for fields greater than 4.1 V \AA the Xe experiences
an outward force. Field desorption and the Eigler switch are discussed in terms
of these results.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, RevTex (accepted by PRL
Lower serum estradiol levels in assigned female at birth transgender people with initiation of testosterone therapy : results from the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence
Purpose: Concerns have been raised about undesired estrogenic effects in assigned female at birth (AFAB) transgender people on testosterone therapy. How serum estradiol levels change after initiation of testosterone therapy and if these levels should be monitored remain unclear. Methods: This prospective cohort study was part of the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence. Serum levels of sex steroids were assessed in 746 AFAB transgender people during a 3-year follow-up period, starting at the initiation of hormone treatment. Results: Estradiol levels decreased from median [P25-P75] 45.6 [24.0-102.2] pg/mL to 36.5 [25.0-46.2] pg/mL over 3 years (p < 0.001); a change was already noticeable during the first 3 months (mean -17.1 pg/mL, 95% confidence interval -23.8 to -10.6, p < 0.001). Serum estradiol levels were lower in people without endogenous estradiol production from ovarian source (contraceptive users or post hystero-oophorectomy) at baseline and after 3 months, compared with people with endogenous estradiol production. Using long-acting testosterone undecanoate injections resulted in a more prominent decrease in serum estradiol values over 12 months, compared with short-acting mixed testosterone esters (p < 0.001) or testosterone gel (p = 0.001). Changes in serum estradiol were positively correlated to changes in luteinizing hormone (rho = 0.107, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated to changes in follicle-stimulating hormone levels (rho = -0.167, p < 0.001) and body mass index (rho = -0.082, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Testosterone administration in AFAB transgender people resulted in decreasing serum estradiol levels. Our results suggest that testosterone therapy leads to central suppression of estradiol production, with partial restitution due to aromatization
A phonon scattering assisted injection and extraction based terahertz quantum cascade laser
A novel lasing scheme for terahertz quantum cascade lasers, based on
consecutive phonon-photon-phonon emissions per module, is proposed and
experimentally demonstrated. The charge transport of the proposed structure is
modeled using a rate equation formalism. An optimization code based on a
genetic algorithm was developed to find a four-well design in the
material system that maximizes the product
of population inversion and oscillator strength at 150 K. The fabricated
devices using Au double-metal waveguides show lasing at 3.2 THz up to 138 K.
The electrical characteristics display no sign of differential resistance drop
at lasing threshold, which suggests - thanks to the rate equation model - a
slow depopulation rate of the lower lasing state, a hypothesis confirmed by
non-equilibrium Green's function calculations.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
A phonon scattering assisted injection and extraction based terahertz quantum cascade laser
A novel lasing scheme for terahertz quantum cascade lasers, based on
consecutive phonon-photon-phonon emissions per module, is proposed and
experimentally demonstrated. The charge transport of the proposed structure is
modeled using a rate equation formalism. An optimization code based on a
genetic algorithm was developed to find a four-well design in the
material system that maximizes the product
of population inversion and oscillator strength at 150 K. The fabricated
devices using Au double-metal waveguides show lasing at 3.2 THz up to 138 K.
The electrical characteristics display no sign of differential resistance drop
at lasing threshold, which suggests - thanks to the rate equation model - a
slow depopulation rate of the lower lasing state, a hypothesis confirmed by
non-equilibrium Green's function calculations.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Growth response to ozone of annual species from Mediterranean pastures
Ozone (O3) phytotoxicity has been reported on a wide range of plant species. However, scarce information has been provided regarding the sensitivity of semi-natural grassland species, especially those from dehesa Mediterranean grasslands, in spite of their great biological diversity and the high O3 levels recorded in the region. A screening study was carried out in open-top chambers (OTCs) to assess the O3-sensitivity of representative therophytes of these ecosystems based on the response of selected growth-related parameters. Three O3 treatments and 3 OTCs per treatment were used. Legume species were very sensitive to O3, because 78% of the tested species showed detrimental effects on their total biomass relative growth rate (RGR) following their exposure to O3. The Trifolium genus was particularly sensitive showing O3-induced adverse effects on most of the assessed parameters. Gramineae plants were less sensitive than Leguminosae species because detrimental effects on total biomass RGR were only observed in 14% of the assessed species. No relationship was found between relative growth rates when growing in clean air and O3 susceptibility. The implications of these effects on the performance of dehesa acidic grasslands and on the definition of ozone critical levels for the protection of semi-natural vegetation are discussed
Coherent control of three-spin states in a triple quantum dot
Spin qubits involving individual spins in single quantum dots or coupled
spins in double quantum dots have emerged as potential building blocks for
quantum information processing applications. It has been suggested that triple
quantum dots may provide additional tools and functionalities. These include
the encoding of information to either obtain protection from decoherence or to
permit all-electrical operation, efficient spin busing across a quantum
circuit, and to enable quantum error correction utilizing the three-spin
Greenberger-Horn-Zeilinger quantum state. Towards these goals we demonstrate
for the first time coherent manipulation between two interacting three-spin
states. We employ the Landau-Zener-St\"uckelberg approach for creating and
manipulating coherent superpositions of quantum states. We confirm that we are
able to maintain coherence when decreasing the exchange coupling of one spin
with another while simultaneously increasing its coupling with the third. Such
control of pairwise exchange is a requirement of most spin qubit architectures
but has not been previously demonstrated.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, and 2 table
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