517 research outputs found
Electrical and terahertz magnetospectroscopy studies of laser-patterned micro- and nanostructures on InAs-based heterostructures
Nanostructures fabricated from narrow-gap semiconductors with strong
spin-orbit interaction (SOI), such as InAs, can be used to filter momentum
modes of electrons and offer the possibility to create and detect
spin-polarized currents entirely by electric fields. Here, we present
magnetotransport and THz magnetospectroscopy investigations of Hall-bars with
back-gates made from in InGaAs/InAlAs quantum well structures with a strained 4
nm InAs inserted channel. The two-dimensional electron gas is at 53 nm depth
and has a carrier density of about cm and mobility of
about cm/Vs, after illumination. Electrical and THz optical
transport measurements at low temperatures and in high magnetic fields reveal
an effective mass of 0.038 and an anisotropic -factor of up to 20,
larger than for bulk InAs or InAs-based heterostructures. We demonstrate that
quasi-one-dimensional channels can be formed by micro-laser lithography. The
population of subbands is controlled by in-plane gates. Contrary to previous
reports symmetric and asymmetric in-plane gate voltages applied to quasi-one
dimensional channels did not show indications of SOI-induced anomalies in the
conductance.Comment: v1 did not contain references due to filename mix-up; v3 is revision
following referee report; v4 is corrected version following acceptance; v5 is
the published versio
Aharanov-Bohm excitons at elevated temperatures in type-II ZnTe/ZnSe quantum dots
Optical emission from type-II ZnTe/ZnSe quantum dots demonstrates large and
persistent oscillations in both the peak energy and intensity indicating the
formation of coherently rotating states. Furthermore, the Aharanov-Bohm (AB)
effect is shown to be remarkably robust and persists until 180K. This is at
least one order of magnitude greater than the typical temperatures in
lithographically defined rings. To our knowledge this is the highest
temperature at which the AB effect has been observed in semiconductor
structures
Above-Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism in GaSb/Mn Digital Alloys
Digital alloys of GaSb/Mn have been fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy.
Transmission electron micrographs showed good crystal quality with individual
Mn-containing layers well resolved; no evidence of 3D MnSb precipitates was
seen in as-grown samples. All samples studied exhibited ferromagnetism with
temperature dependent hysteresis loops in the magnetization accompanied by
metallic p-type conductivity with a strong anomalous Hall effect (AHE) up to
400 K (limited by the experimental setup). The anomalous Hall effect shows
hysteresis loops at low temperatures and above room temperature very similar to
those seen in the magnetization. The strong AHE with hysteresis indicates that
the holes interact with the Mn spins above room temperature. All samples are
metallic, which is important for spintronics applications.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
Serial measurements of phosphorylated neurofilament-heavy in the serum of subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
There is a need for a blood biomarker of disease activity in ALS. This marker needs to measure the loss of motor neurones. Phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNfH) in the serum is a biomarker of axonal injury. Previous studies have found that levels of pNfH are elevated in ALS. We have performed a serial study of pNfH levels in 98 subjects from our ALS clinic. There was significant elevation of levels of pNfH in subjects with ALS compared to controls, although there was considerable variability. In studies of individuals who had two or more serial samples, we found that the levels of pNfH increased over time in the early stage of disease. Levels were low in subjects with long survival. The rate of rise of pNfH was inversely correlated with survival. We suggest that the initial level of pNfH is a marker of disease severity and that changes in pNfH levels are markers of disease progression
Terahertz dynamics of a topologically protected state: quantum Hall effect plateaus near cyclotron resonance in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction
We measure the Hall conductivity of a two-dimensional electron gas formed at
a GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction in the terahertz regime close to the cyclotron
resonance frequency by employing a highly sensitive Faraday rotation method
coupled with electrical gating of the sample to change the electron density. We
observe clear plateau-and step-like features in the Faraday rotation angle vs.
electron density and magnetic field (Landau-level filling factor), which are
the high frequency manifestation of quantum Hall plateaus - a signature of
topologically protected edge states. The results are compared to a recent
dynamical scaling theory.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure
The effect of ageing on human lymphocyte subsets: comparison of males and females
There is reported to be a decline in immune function and an alteration in the frequency of circulating lymphocytes with advancing age. There are also differences in ageing and lifespan between males and females. We performed this study to see if there were differences between males and females in the frequency of the different lymphocyte subsets with age.Using flow cytometry we have examined different populations of peripheral blood leukocytes purified from healthy subjects with age ranging from the third to the tenth decade. We used linear regression analysis to determine if there is a linear relationship between age and cell frequencies. For the whole group, we find that with age there is a significant decline in the percentage of naïve T cells and CD8(+) T cells, and an increase in the percentage of effector memory cells, CD4(+)foxp3(+) T cells and NK cells. For all cells where there was an effect of ageing, the slope of the curve was greater for men than for women and this was statistically significant for CD8(+)alphabeta(+) T cells and CD3(+)CD45RA(-)CCR7(-) effector memory cells. There was also a difference for naïve cells but this was not significant.The cause of the change in percentage of lymphocyte subsets with age, and the different effects on males and females is not fully understood but warrants further study
Increased Immunoreactivity to Two Overlapping Peptides of Myelin Proteolipid Protein in Multiple Sclerosis
We tested the proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 61 patients with multiple sclerosis, 56 healthy control subjects and 52 patients with other neurological diseases to seven synthetic peptides of myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) and 19 synthetic peptides of myelin basic protein (MBP). Increased proliferative responses to two overlapping PLP peptides, PLP184-199 and PLP190-209, were found significantly more frequently in blood from patients with relapsing-remitting or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (52.3%), but not from those with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (18.2%), than in that from healthy control subjects (8.9%) and patients with other neurological diseases (20.8%). Reactivity to these PLP peptides was most frequently seen in blood from patients with multiple sclerosis of 6-15 years duration and with moderate to severe disability (Kurtzke's Expanded Disability Status Scale > 4.0); the blood from 15 of 19 patients in this group reacted to one or both of the peptides. Both peptides could be recognized by short-term T-cell lines specific for whole PLP, and lines specific for one or other of the two overlapping peptides were able to recognize whole PLP, indicating that these peptides can be processed naturally from the intact molecule. This region of PLP is encephalitogenic in a number of strains of mice. Samples from multiple sclerosis patients did not react more frequently to any of the MBP peptides than those from healthy control subjects. The proportions of patients with other neurological diseases whose blood responded to the MBP peptides that most frequently elicited responses in blood from multiple sclerosis patients were significantly lower than the proportions of multiple sclerosis patients and healthy control subjects whose blood responded to these peptides
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