5,306 research outputs found
Planar immersion lens with metasurfaces
The solid immersion lens is a powerful optical tool that allows light
entering material from air or vacuum to focus to a spot much smaller than the
free-space wavelength. Conventionally, however, they rely on semispherical
topographies and are non-planar and bulky, which limits their integration in
many applications. Recently, there has been considerable interest in using
planar structures, referred to as metasurfaces, to construct flat optical
components for manipulating light in unusual ways. Here, we propose and
demonstrate the concept of a planar immersion lens based on metasurfaces. The
resulting planar device, when placed near an interface between air and
dielectric material, can focus electromagnetic radiation incident from air to a
spot in material smaller than the free-space wavelength. As an experimental
demonstration, we fabricate an ultrathin and flexible microwave lens and
further show that it achieves wireless energy transfer in material mimicking
biological tissue
Delayed compensation and the hiring of older workers : evidence from Hong Kong
An original survey of Hong Kong establishments identifies hiring and employment patterns by age of worker. As in the U.S., there exist many firms which employ older workers but do not hire older workers. This similarity is important as Hong Kong neither prohibits age discrimination nor requires uniform fringe benefit provision. Thus, these laws thought to account for the U. S. pattern may not be a sufficient explanation. Instead, our finding that those Hong Kong firms delaying compensation disproportionately hire younger workers suggests that existing hiring patterns may largely be a response to inherent monitoring difficulties
Resonant dipole-dipole interaction in the presence of dispersing and absorbing surroundings
Within the framework of quantization of the macroscopic electromagnetic
field, equations of motion and an effective Hamiltonian for treating both the
resonant dipole-dipole interaction between two-level atoms and the resonant
atom-field interaction are derived, which can suitably be used for studying the
influence of arbitrary dispersing and absorbing material surroundings on these
interactions. The theory is applied to the study of the transient behavior of
two atoms that initially share a single excitation, with special emphasis on
the role of the two competing processes of virtual and real photon exchange in
the energy transfer between the atoms. In particular, it is shown that for weak
atom-field interaction there is a time window, where the energy transfer
follows a rate regime of the type obtained by ordinary second-order
perturbation theory. Finally, the resonant dipole-dipole interaction is shown
to give rise to a doublet spectrum of the emitted light for weak atom-field
interaction and a triplet spectrum for strong atom-field interaction.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, RevTE
The Scattering Theory of Oscillator Defects in an Optical Fiber
We examine harmonic oscillator defects coupled to a photon field in the
environs of an optical fiber. Using techniques borrowed or extended from the
theory of two dimensional quantum fields with boundaries and defects, we are
able to compute exactly a number of interesting quantities. We calculate the
scattering S-matrices (i.e. the reflection and transmission amplitudes) of the
photons off a single defect. We determine using techniques derived from
thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) the thermodynamic potentials of the
interacting photon-defect system. And we compute several correlators of
physical interest. We find the photon occupancy at finite temperature, the
spontaneous emission spectrum from the decay of an excited state, and the
correlation functions of the defect degrees of freedom. In an extension of the
single defect theory, we find the photonic band structure that arises from a
periodic array of harmonic oscillators. In another extension, we examine a
continuous array of defects and exactly derive its dispersion relation. With
some differences, the spectrum is similar to that found for EM wave propagation
in covalent crystals. We then add to this continuum theory isolated defects, so
as to obtain a more realistic model of defects embedded in a frequency
dependent dielectric medium. We do this both with a single isolated defect and
with an array of isolated defects, and so compute how the S-matrices and the
band structure change in a dynamic medium.Comment: 32 pages, TeX with harvmac macros, three postscript figure
Radiating dipoles in photonic crystals
The radiation dynamics of a dipole antenna embedded in a Photonic Crystal are
modeled by an initially excited harmonic oscillator coupled to a non--Markovian
bath of harmonic oscillators representing the colored electromagnetic vacuum
within the crystal. Realistic coupling constants based on the natural modes of
the Photonic Crystal, i.e., Bloch waves and their associated dispersion
relation, are derived. For simple model systems, well-known results such as
decay times and emission spectra are reproduced. This approach enables direct
incorporation of realistic band structure computations into studies of
radiative emission from atoms and molecules within photonic crystals. We
therefore provide a predictive and interpretative tool for experiments in both
the microwave and optical regimes.Comment: Phys. Rev. E, accepte
Braggoriton--Excitation in Photonic Crystal Infiltrated with Polarizable Medium
Light propagation in a photonic crystal infiltrated with polarizable
molecules is considered. We demonstrate that the interplay between the spatial
dispersion caused by Bragg diffraction and polaritonic frequency dispersion
gives rise to novel propagating excitations, or braggoritons, with intragap
frequencies. We derive the braggoriton dispersion relation and show that it is
governed by two parameters, namely, the strength of light-matter interaction
and detuning between the Bragg frequency and that of the infiltrated molecules.
We also study defect-induced states when the photonic band gap is divided into
two subgaps by the braggoritonic branches and find that each defect creates two
intragap localized states inside each subgap.Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages, 5 figure
Valsartan for attenuating disease evolution in early sarcomeric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: the design of the Valsartan for Attenuating Disease Evolution in Early Sarcomeric Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (VANISH) trial
Background:
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is often caused by sarcomere gene mutations, resulting in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), myocardial fibrosis, and increased risk of sudden cardiac death and heart failure. Studies in mouse models of sarcomeric HCM demonstrated that early treatment with an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) reduced development of LVH and fibrosis. In contrast, prior human studies using ARBs for HCM have targeted heterogeneous adult cohorts with well-established disease. The VANISH trial is testing the safety and feasibility of disease-modifying therapy with an ARB in genotyped HCM patients with early disease.
Methods:
A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial is being conducted in sarcomere mutation carriers, 8 to 45 years old, with HCM and no/minimal symptoms, or those with early phenotypic manifestations but no LVH. Participants are randomly assigned to receive valsartan 80 to 320 mg daily (depending on age and weight) or placebo. The primary endpoint is a composite of 9 z-scores in domains representing myocardial injury/hemodynamic stress, cardiac morphology, and function. Total z-scores reflecting change from baseline to final visits will be compared between treatment groups. Secondary endpoints will assess the impact of treatment on mutation carriers without LVH, and analyze the influence of age, sex, and genotype.
Conclusions:
The VANISH trial is testing a new strategy of disease modification for treating sarcomere mutation carriers with early HCM, and those at risk for its development. In addition, further insight into disease mechanisms, response to therapy, and phenotypic evolution will be gained
Characterization of an Autonomous Non-Volatile Ferroelectric Memory Latch
We present the electrical characterization of an autonomous non-volatile ferroelectric memory latch using the principle that when an electric field is applied to a ferroelectriccapacitor,the positive and negative remnant polarization charge states of the capacitor are denoted as either data 0 or data 1. The properties of the ferroelectric material to store an electric polarization in the absence of an electric field make the device non-volatile. Further the memory latch is autonomous as it operates with the ground, power and output node connections, without any externally clocked control line. The unique quality of this latch circuit is that it can be written when powered off. The advantages of this latch over flash memories are: a) It offers unlimited reads/writes b) works on symmetrical read/write cycles. c) The latch is asynchronous. The circuit was initially developed by Radiant Technologies Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico
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