294 research outputs found
Residual strain in free-standing CdTe nanowires overgrown with HgTe
We investigate the crystal properties of CdTe nanowires overgrown with HgTe.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning transmission electron
microscopy (STEM) confirm, that the growth results in a high ensemble
uniformity and that the individual heterostructures are single-crystalline,
respectively. We use high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) to investigate
strain, caused by the small lattice mismatch between the two materials. We find
that both CdTe and HgTe show changes in lattice constant compared to the
respective bulk lattice constants. The measurements reveal a complex strain
pattern with signatures of both uniaxial and shear strains present in the
overgrown nanowires
Fine structure of "zero-mode" Landau levels in HgTe/HgCdTe quantum wells
HgTe/HgCdTe quantum wells with the inverted band structure have been probed
using far infrared magneto-spectroscopy. Realistic calculations of Landau level
diagrams have been performed to identify the observed transitions.
Investigations have been greatly focused on the magnetic field dependence of
the peculiar pair of "zero-mode" Landau levels which characteristically split
from the upper conduction and bottom valence bands, and merge under the applied
magnetic field. The observed avoided crossing of these levels is tentatively
attributed to the bulk inversion asymmetry of zinc blend compounds.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Erioflorin stabilizes the tumor suppressor Pdcd4 by inhibiting its interaction with the E3-ligase β-TrCP1
Loss of the tumor suppressor Pdcd4 was reported for various tumor entities and proposed as a prognostic marker in tumorigenesis. We previously characterized decreased Pdcd4 protein stability in response to mitogenic stimuli, which resulted from p70S6K1-dependent protein phosphorylation, β-TrCP1-mediated ubiquitination, and proteasomal destruction. Following high-throughput screening of natural product extract libraries using a luciferase-based reporter assay to monitor phosphorylation-dependent proteasomal degradation of the tumor suppressor Pdcd4, we succeeded in showing that a crude extract from Eriophyllum lanatum stabilized Pdcd4 from TPA-induced degradation. Erioflorin was identified as the active component and inhibited not only degradation of the Pdcd4-luciferase-based reporter but also of endogenous Pdcd4 at low micromolar concentrations. Mechanistically, erioflorin interfered with the interaction between the E3-ubiquitin ligase β-TrCP1 and Pdcd4 in cell culture and in in vitro binding assays, consequently decreasing ubiquitination and degradation of Pdcd4. Interestingly, while erioflorin stabilized additional β-TrCP-targets (such as IκBα and β-catenin), it did not prevent the degradation of targets of other E3-ubiquitin ligases such as p21 (a Skp2-target) and HIF-1α (a pVHL-target), implying selectivity for β-TrCP. Moreover, erioflorin inhibited the tumor-associated activity of known Pdcd4- and IκBα-regulated αtranscription factors, that is, AP-1 and NF-κB, altered cell cycle progression and suppressed proliferation of various cancer cell lines. Our studies succeeded in identifying erioflorin as a novel Pdcd4 stabilizer that inhibits the interaction of Pdcd4 with the E3-ubiquitin ligase β-TrCP1. Inhibition of E3-ligase/target-protein interactions may offer the possibility to target degradation of specific proteins only as compared to general proteasome inhibition
Interplay of chiral and helical states in a Quantum Spin Hall Insulator lateral junction
We study the electronic transport across an electrostatically-gated lateral
junction in a HgTe quantum well, a canonical 2D topological insulator, with and
without applied magnetic field. We control carrier density inside and outside a
junction region independently and hence tune the number and nature of 1D edge
modes propagating in each of those regions. Outside the 2D gap, magnetic field
drives the system to the quantum Hall regime, and chiral states propagate at
the edge. In this regime, we observe fractional plateaus which reflect the
equilibration between 1D chiral modes across the junction. As carrier density
approaches zero in the central region and at moderate fields, we observe
oscillations in resistance that we attribute to Fabry-Perot interference in the
helical states, enabled by the broken time reversal symmetry. At higher fields,
those oscillations disappear, in agreement with the expected absence of helical
states when band inversion is lifted.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, supp. ma
Single valley Dirac fermions in zero-gap HgTe quantum wells
Dirac fermions have been studied intensively in condensed matter physics in
recent years. Many theoretical predictions critically depend on the number of
valleys where the Dirac fermions are realized. In this work, we report the
discovery of a two dimensional system with a single valley Dirac cone. We study
the transport properties of HgTe quantum wells grown at the critical thickness
separating between the topologically trivial and the quantum spin Hall phases.
At high magnetic fields, the quantized Hall plateaus demonstrate the presence
of a single valley Dirac point in this system. In addition, we clearly observe
the linear dispersion of the zero mode spin levels. Also the conductivity at
the Dirac point and its temperature dependence can be understood from single
valley Dirac fermion physics.Comment: version 2: supplementary material adde
Microwave studies of the fractional Josephson effect in HgTe-based Josephson junctions
The rise of topological phases of matter is strongly connected to their
potential to host Majorana bound states, a powerful ingredient in the search
for a robust, topologically protected, quantum information processing. In order
to produce such states, a method of choice is to induce superconductivity in
topological insulators. The engineering of the interplay between
superconductivity and the electronic properties of a topological insulator is a
challenging task and it is consequently very important to understand the
physics of simple superconducting devices such as Josephson junctions, in which
new topological properties are expected to emerge. In this article, we review
recent experiments investigating topological superconductivity in topological
insulators, using microwave excitation and detection techniques. More
precisely, we have fabricated and studied topological Josephson junctions made
of HgTe weak links in contact with two Al or Nb contacts. In such devices, we
have observed two signatures of the fractional Josephson effect, which is
expected to emerge from topologically-protected gapless Andreev bound states.
We first recall the theoretical background on topological Josephson junctions,
then move to the experimental observations. Then, we assess the topological
origin of the observed features and conclude with an outlook towards more
advanced microwave spectroscopy experiments, currently under development.Comment: Lectures given at the San Sebastian Topological Matter School 2017,
published in "Topological Matter. Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences,
vol 190. Springer
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