926 research outputs found
Theory of optical spectra of polar quantum wells: Temperature effects
Theoretical and numerical calculations of the optical absorption spectra of
excitons interacting with longitudinal-optical phonons in quasi-2D polar
semiconductors are presented. In II-VI semiconductor quantum wells, exciton
binding energy can be tuned on- and off-resonance with the longitudinal-optical
phonon energy by varying the quantum well width. A comprehensive picture of
this tunning effect on the temperature-dependent exciton absorption spectrum is
derived, using the exciton Green's function formalism at finite temperature.
The effective exciton-phonon interaction is included in the Bethe-Salpeter
equation. Numerical results are illustrated for ZnSe-based quantum wells. At
low temperatures, both a single exciton peak as well as a continuum resonance
state are found in the optical absorption spectra. By contrast, at high enough
temperatures, a splitting of the exciton line due to the real phonon absorption
processes is predicted. Possible previous experimental observations of this
splitting are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B. Permanent address:
[email protected]
Robust skill of decadal climate predictions
There is a growing need for skilful predictions of climate up to a decade ahead. Decadal climate predictions show high skill for surface temperature, but confidence in forecasts of precipitation and atmospheric circulation is much lower. Recent advances in seasonal and annual prediction show that the signal-to-noise ratio can be too small in climate models, requiring a very large ensemble to extract the predictable signal. Here, we reassess decadal prediction skill using a much larger ensemble than previously available, and reveal significant skill for precipitation over land and atmospheric circulation, in addition to surface temperature. We further propose a more powerful approach than used previously to evaluate the benefit of initialisation with observations, improving our understanding of the sources of skill. Our results show that decadal climate is more predictable than previously thought and will aid society to prepare for, and adapt to, ongoing climate variability and change.D.M.S., A.A.S., N.J.D., L.H. and R.E. were supported by the Met Office Hadley Centre
Climate Programme funded by BEIS and Defra and by the European Commission
Horizon 2020 EUCP project (GA 776613). L.P.C. was supported by the Spanish
MINECO HIATUS (CGL2015-70353-R) project. F.J.D.R. was supported by the H2020
EUCP (GA 776613) and the Spanish MINECO CLINSA (CGL2017-85791-R) projects. W.A.
M. and H.P. were supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) under the project MiKlip (grant 01LP1519A). The NCAR contribution was
supported by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Climate Program Office under Climate Variability and Predictability Program Grant
NA13OAR4310138 and by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Collaborative
Research EaSM2 Grant OCE-1243015. The NCAR contribution is also based upon work
supported by NCAR, which is a major facility sponsored by the US NSF under
Cooperative Agreement No. 1852977. The Community Earth System Model Decadal
Prediction Large Ensemble (CESM-DPLE) was generated using computational
resources provided by the US National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center,
which is supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under
Contract DE-AC02-05CH11231, as well as by an Accelerated Scientific Discovery grant
for Cheyenne (https://doi.org/10.5065/D6RX99HX) that was awarded by NCAR’s
Computational and Information System Laboratory.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Controlled assembly of SNAP-PNA-fluorophore systems on DNA templates to produce fluorescence resonance energy transfer
The SNAP protein is a widely used self-labeling tag that can be used for tracking protein localization and trafficking in living systems. A model system providing controlled alignment of SNAP-tag units can provide a new way to study clustering of fusion proteins. In this work, fluorescent SNAP-PNA conjugates were controllably assembled on DNA frameworks forming dimers, trimers, and tetramers. Modification of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) with the O6-benzyl guanine (BG) group allowed the generation of site-selective covalent links between PNA and the SNAP protein. The modified BG-PNAs were labeled with fluorescent Atto dyes and subsequently chemo-selectively conjugated to SNAP protein. Efficient assembly into dimer and oligomer forms was verified via size exclusion chromatography (SEC), electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and fluorescence spectroscopy. DNA directed assembly of homo- and hetero-dimers of SNAP-PNA constructs induced homo- and hetero-FRET, respectively. Longer DNA scaffolds controllably aligned similar fluorescent SNAP-PNA constructs into higher oligomers exhibiting homo-FRET. The combined SEC and homo-FRET studies indicated the 1:1 and saturated assemblies of SNAP-PNA-fluorophore:DNA formed preferentially in this system. This suggested a kinetic/stoichiometric model of assembly rather than binomially distributed products. These BG-PNA-fluorophore building blocks allow facile introduction of fluorophores and/or assembly directing moieties onto any protein containing SNAP. Template directed assembly of PNA modified SNAP proteins may be used to investigate clustering behavior both with and without fluorescent labels which may find use in the study of assembly processes in cells
Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy of Sr_2CuO_2Cl_2 - a revisit
We have investigated the lowest binding-energy electronic structure of the
model cuprate Sr_2CuO_2Cl_2 using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy
(ARPES). Our data from about 80 cleavages of Sr_2CuO_2Cl_2 single crystals give
a comprehensive, self-consistent picture of the nature of the first
electron-removal state in this model undoped CuO_2-plane cuprate. Firstly, we
show a strong dependence on the polarization of the excitation light which is
understandable in the context of the matrix element governing the photoemission
process, which gives a state with the symmetry of a Zhang-Rice singlet.
Secondly, the strong, oscillatory dependence of the intensity of the Zhang-Rice
singlet on the exciting photon-energy is shown to be consistent with
interference effects connected with the periodicity of the crystal structure in
the crystallographic c-direction. Thirdly, we measured the dispersion of the
first electron-removal states along G->(pi,pi) and G->(pi,0), the latter being
controversial in the literature, and have shown that the data are best fitted
using an extended t-J-model, and extract the relevant model parameters. An
analysis of the spectral weight of the first ionization states for different
excitation energies within the approach used by Leung et al. (Phys. Rev. B56,
6320 (1997)) results in a strongly photon-energy dependent ratio between the
coherent and incoherent spectral weight. The possible reasons for this
observation and its physical implications are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Micro/Nanoscale Parallel Patterning of Functional Biomolecules, Organic Fluorophores and Colloidal Nanocrystals
We describe the design and optimization of a reliable strategy that combines self-assembly and lithographic techniques, leading to very precise micro-/nanopositioning of biomolecules for the realization of micro- and nanoarrays of functional DNA and antibodies. Moreover, based on the covalent immobilization of stable and versatile SAMs of programmable chemical reactivity, this approach constitutes a general platform for the parallel site-specific deposition of a wide range of molecules such as organic fluorophores and water-soluble colloidal nanocrystals
ARPES: A probe of electronic correlations
Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is one of the most direct
methods of studying the electronic structure of solids. By measuring the
kinetic energy and angular distribution of the electrons photoemitted from a
sample illuminated with sufficiently high-energy radiation, one can gain
information on both the energy and momentum of the electrons propagating inside
a material. This is of vital importance in elucidating the connection between
electronic, magnetic, and chemical structure of solids, in particular for those
complex systems which cannot be appropriately described within the
independent-particle picture. Among the various classes of complex systems, of
great interest are the transition metal oxides, which have been at the center
stage in condensed matter physics for the last four decades. Following a
general introduction to the topic, we will lay the theoretical basis needed to
understand the pivotal role of ARPES in the study of such systems. After a
brief overview on the state-of-the-art capabilities of the technique, we will
review some of the most interesting and relevant case studies of the novel
physics revealed by ARPES in 3d-, 4d- and 5d-based oxides.Comment: Chapter to appear in "Strongly Correlated Systems: Experimental
Techniques", edited by A. Avella and F. Mancini, Springer Series in
Solid-State Sciences (2013). A high-resolution version can be found at:
http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~quantmat/ARPES/PUBLICATIONS/Reviews/ARPES_Springer.pdf.
arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:cond-mat/0307085,
arXiv:cond-mat/020850
Complex crystal structures formed by the self assembly of di-tethered nanospheres
We report the results from a computational study of the self-assembly of
amphiphilic di-tethered nanospheres using molecular simulation. As a function
of the interaction strength and directionality of the tether-tether
interactions, we predict the formation of four highly ordered phases not
previously reported for nanoparticle systems. We find a double diamond
structure comprised of a zincblende (binary diamond) arrangement of spherical
micelles with a complementary diamond network of nanoparticles (ZnS/D); a phase
of alternating spherical micelles in a NaCl structure with a complementary
simple cubic network of nanoparticles to form an overall crystal structure
identical to that of AlCu_2Mn (NaCl/SC); an alternating tetragonal ordered
cylinder phase with a tetragonal mesh of nanoparticles described by the [8,8,4]
Archimedean tiling (TC/T); and an alternating diamond phase in which both
diamond networks are formed by the tethers (AD) within a nanoparticle matrix.
We compare these structures with those observed in linear and star triblock
copolymer systems
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Decadal predictions with the HiGEM high resolution global coupled climate model: description and basic evaluation
This paper describes the development and basic evaluation of decadal predictions produced using the HiGEM coupled climate model. HiGEM is a higher resolution version of the HadGEM1 Met Office Unified Model. The horizontal resolution in HiGEM has been increased to 1.25◦ × 0.83◦ in longitude and latitude for the atmosphere, and 1/3◦ × 1/3◦ globally for the ocean. The HiGEM decadal predictions are initialised using an anomaly assimilation scheme that relaxes anomalies of ocean temperature and salinity to observed anomalies. 10 year hindcasts are produced for 10 start dates (1960, 1965,..., 2000, 2005).
To determine the relative contributions to prediction skill from initial conditions and external forcing, the HiGEM decadal predictions are compared to uninitialised HiGEM transient experiments. The HiGEM decadal predictions have substantial skill for predictions of annual mean surface air temperature and 100 m upper ocean temperature.
For lead times up to 10 years, anomaly correlations (ACC) over large areas of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean exceed values of 0.6. Initialisation of the HiGEM decadal predictions significantly increases skill over regions of the Atlantic Ocean,the Maritime Continent and regions of the subtropical North and South Pacific Ocean. In particular, HiGEM produces skillful predictions of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre for up to 4 years lead time (with ACC > 0.7), which are significantly larger than the uninitialised HiGEM transient experiments
Electrically addressable vesicles: Tools for dielectrophoresis metrology
Dielectrophoresis (DEP) has emerged as an important tool for the manipulation of bioparticles ranging from the submicron to the tens of microns in size. Here we show the use of phospholipid vesicle electroformation techniques to develop a new class of test particles with specifically engineered electrical propserties to enable identifiable dielectrophoretic responses in microfabricated systems. These electrically addressable vesicles (EAVs) enable the creation of electrically distinct populations of test particles for DEP. EAVs offer control of both their inner aqueous core and outer membrane properties; by encapsulating solutions of different electrolyte strength inside the vesicle and by incorporating functionalized phospholipids containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) brushes attached to their hydrophilic headgroup in the vesicle membrane, we demonstrate control of the vesicles’ electrical polarizabilities. This combined with the ability to encode information about the properties of the vesicle in its fluorescence signature forms the first steps toward the development of EAV populations as metrology tools for any DEP-based microsystem.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant RR199652)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB005753)Merck/CSBi (Fellowship)Solomon Buchsbaum AT&T Research Fun
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