Electric Field Sensor Based on High Q Fano Resonance of Nano-Patterned Electro-Optic Materials

This paper presents theoretical studies of Fano resonance based electric-field (E-field) sensors. E-field sensor based on two electro-optical (EO) materials i.e., barium titanate (BaTiO3, BTO) nanoparticles and relaxor ferroelectric material Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) combined with nanostructure are studied. As for the BTO based E-field sensor, a configuration of filling the BTO nanoparticles into a nano-patterned thin film silicon is proposed. The achieved resonance quality factor (Q) is 11,855 and a resonance induced electric field enhancement factor is of around 105. As for the design of PMN-PT based E-field sensor, a configuration by combining two square lattice air holes in PMN-PT thin film but with one offsetting hole left is chosen. The achieved resonance Q is of 9,273 and an electric field enhancement factor is of around 96. The resonance wavelength shift sensitivity of PMN-PT nanostructured can reach up to 4.768 pm/(V/m), while the BTO based nanostructure has a sensitivity of 0.1213 pm/(V/m). If a spectrum analyzer with 0.1 pm resolution is considered, then the minimum detection of the electric field Emin is 20 mV/m and 0.82 V/m for PMN-PT and BTO based nanostructures, respectively. The nano-patterned E-field sensor studied here are all dielectric, it has therefore the advantage of large measurement bandwidth, high measurement fidelity, high spatial resolution and high sensitivity

Directional Bloch surface wave coupling enabled by magnetic spin-momentum locking of light

International audience<span id="top"&gtWe study the magnetic spin-locking of opticalsurface waves. Through an angular spectrum approach and numericalsimulations, we predict that a spinning magnetic dipole develops adirectional coupling of light to transverse electric (TE) polarizedBloch surface waves (BSWs). A high-index nanoparticle as a magneticdipole and nano-coupler is placed on top of a one-dimensionalphotonic crystal to couple light into BSWs. Upon circularlypolarized illumination, it mimics the spinning magnetic dipole. Wefind that the helicity of the light impinging on the nano-couplercontrols the directionality of emerging BSWs. Furthermore,identical silicon strip waveguides are configured on the two sidesof the nano-coupler to confine and guide the BSWs. We achieve adirectional nano-routing of BSWs with circularly polarizedillumination. Such a directional coupling phenomenon is proved tobe solely mediated by the optical magnetic field. This offersopportunities for directional switching and polarization sorting bycontrolling optical flows in ultra-compact architectures andenables the investigation of the magnetic polarization propertiesof light.</span&g

Photonic spin Hall effect of monolayer black phosphorus in the Terahertz region

As a two-dimensional (2D) material, black phosphorus (BP) has attracted significant attention owing to exotic physical properties such as low-energy band gap, high carrier mobility, and strong in-plane anisotropy. The striking in-plane anisotropy is a promising candidate for novel light-matter interaction. Here, we investigate the photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE) on a monolayer of BP. Due to the in-plane anisotropic property of BP, the PSHE is accompanied with Goos-Hänchen and Imbert-Fedorov effects, resulting in an asymmetric spin splitting. The asymmetric spin splitting can be flexibly tuned by the angle between the incident plane and the armchair crystalline direction of BP and by the carrier density via a bias voltage. The centroid displacements of two opposite spin components of the reflected beam along directions parallel and perpendicular to the incident plane can be considered as four independent channels for information processing. The potential application in barcode-encryption is proposed and discussed. These findings provide a deeper insight into the spin-orbit interaction in 2D material and thereby facilitate the development of optoelectronic devices in the Terahertz region

MiR-766-3p and miR-671-5p attenuate aristolochic acid-induced hepatotoxicity by directly targeting the key bioactivating enzyme NQO1

Aristolochic acid (AA) as an emerging contaminant in herbal medicines or crops has been well-recognized for causing nephropathy since 1990s. Over the last decade, mounting evidence has linked AA to liver injury; however, the underlying mechanism is poorly elucidated. MicroRNAs respond to environmental stress and mediate multiple biological processes, thus showing biomarker potentials prognostically or diagnostically. In the present study, we investigated the role of miRNAs in AA-induced hepatotoxicity, specifically in regulating NQO1, the key enzyme responsible for AA bioactivation. In silico analysis showed that hsa-miR-766-3p and hsa-miR-671-5p were significantly associated with AAI exposure as well as NQO1 induction. A 28-day rat experiment of 20 mg/kg AA exposure demonstrated a 3-fold increase of NQO1 and an almost 50 % decrease of the homologous miR-671 that were accompanied with liver injury, which was consistent with in silico prediction. Further mechanistic investigation using Huh7 cells with IC50 of AAI at 146.5 µM showed both hsa-miR-766-3p and hsa-miR-671-5p were able to directly bind to and down-regulate NQO1 basal expression. In addition, both miRNAs were shown to suppress AAI-induced NQO1 upregulation in Huh7 cells at a cytotoxic concentration of 70 μM, and consequently alleviate AAI-induced cellular effects, including cytotoxicity and oxidative stress. Together, these data illustrate that miR-766-3p and miR-671-5p attenuate AAI-induced hepatotoxicity, and thus have monitoring and diagnostic potentials