345 research outputs found
Giant Spin Relaxation Anisotropy in Zinc-Blende Heterostructures
Spin relaxation in-plane anisotropy is predicted for heterostructures based
on zinc-blende semiconductors. It is shown that it manifests itself especially
brightly if the two spin relaxation mechanisms (D'yakonov-Perel' and Rashba)
are comparable in efficiency. It is demonstrated that for the quantum well
grown along the [0 0 1] direction, the main axes of spin relaxation rate tensor
are [1 1 0] and [1 -1 0].Comment: 3 pages, NO figure
Electron Spin Decoherence in Bulk and Quantum Well Zincblende Semiconductors
A theory for longitudinal (T1) and transverse (T2) electron spin coherence
times in zincblende semiconductor quantum wells is developed based on a
non-perturbative nanostructure model solved in a fourteen-band restricted basis
set. Distinctly different dependences of coherence times on mobility,
quantization energy, and temperature are found from previous calculations.
Quantitative agreement between our calculations and measurements is found for
GaAs/AlGaAs, InGaAs/InP, and GaSb/AlSb quantum wells.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Effect of bulk inversion asymmetry on the Datta-Das transistor
A model of the Datta-Das spin field-effect transistor is presented which, in
addition to the Rashba interaction, takes into account the influence of bulk
inversion asymmetry of zinc-blende semiconductors. In the presence of bulk
inversion asymmetry, the conductance is found to depend significantly on the
crystallographic orientation of the channel. We determine the channel direction
optimal for the observation of the Datta-Das effect in GaAs and InAs-based
devices.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex4, 4 EPS figure
Magnetotransport in Two-Dimensional Electron Systems with Spin-Orbit Interaction
We present magnetotransport calculations for homogeneous two-dimensional
electron systems including the Rashba spin-orbit interaction, which mixes the
spin-eigenstates and leads to a modified fan-chart with crossing Landau levels.
The quantum mechanical Kubo formula is evaluated by taking into account
spin-conserving scatterers in an extension of the self-consistent Born
approximation that considers the spin degree of freedom. The calculated
conductivity exhibits besides the well-known beating in the Shubnikov-de Haas
(SdH) oscillations a modulation which is due to a suppression of scattering
away from the crossing points of Landau levels and does not show up in the
density of states. This modulation, surviving even at elevated temperatures
when the SdH oscillations are damped out, could serve to identify spin-orbit
coupling in magnetotransport experiments. Our magnetotransport calculations are
extended also to lateral superlattices and predictions are made with respect to
1/B periodic oscillations in dependence on carrier density and strength of the
spin-orbit coupling.Comment: 8 pages including 8 figures; submitted to PR
Spin Orientation and Spin Precession in Inversion-Asymmetric Quasi Two-Dimensional Electron Systems
Inversion asymmetry induced spin splitting of the electron states in quasi
two-dimensional (2D) systems can be attributed to an effective magnetic field B
which varies in magnitude and orientation as a function of the in-plane wave
vector k||. Using a realistic 8x8 Kane model that fully takes into account spin
splitting because of both bulk inversion asymmetry and structure inversion
asymmetry we investigate the spin orientation and the effective field B for
different configurations of a quasi 2D electron system. It is shown that these
quantities depend sensitively on the crystallographic direction in which the
quasi 2D system was grown as well as on the magnitude and orientation of the
in-plane wave vector k||. These results are used to discuss how spin-polarized
electrons can precess in the field B(k||). As a specific example we consider
GaInAs-InP quantum wells.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Anisotropic splitting of intersubband spin plasmons in quantum wells with bulk and structural inversion asymmetry
In semiconductor heterostructures, bulk and structural inversion asymmetry
and spin-orbit coupling induce a k-dependent spin splitting of valence and
conduction subbands, which can be viewed as being caused by momentum-dependent
crystal magnetic fields. This paper studies the influence of these effective
magnetic fields on the intersubband spin dynamics in an asymmetric n-type
GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well. We calculate the dispersions of intersubband spin
plasmons using linear response theory. The so-called D'yakonov-Perel'
decoherence mechanism is inactive for collective intersubband excitations,
i.e., crystal magnetic fields do not lead to decoherence of spin plasmons.
Instead, we predict that the main signature of bulk and structural inversion
asymmetry in intersubband spin dynamics is a three-fold, anisotropic splitting
of the spin plasmon dispersion. The importance of many-body effects is pointed
out, and conditions for experimental observation with inelastic light
scattering are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Spin relaxation: From 2D to 1D
In inversion asymmetric semiconductors, spin-orbit interactions give rise to
very effective relaxation mechanisms of the electron spin. Recent work, based
on the dimensionally constrained D'yakonov Perel' mechanism, describes
increasing electron-spin relaxation times for two-dimensional conducting layers
with decreasing channel width. The slow-down of the spin relaxation can be
understood as a precursor of the one-dimensional limit
Multiple physical forms of excised group II intron RNAs in wheat mitochondria
Plant mitochondrial group II introns do not all possess hallmark ribozymic features such as the bulged adenosine involved in lariat formation. To gain insight into their splicing pathways, we have examined the physical form of excised introns in germinating wheat embryos. Using RT–PCR and cRT–PCR, we observed conventional lariats consistent with a two-step transesterification pathway for introns such as nad2 intron 4, but this was not the case for the cox2 intron or nad1 intron 2. For cox2, we detected full-length linear introns, which possess non-encoded 3′terminaladenosines, as well as heterogeneous circular introns, which lack 3′ nucleotide stretches. These observations are consistent with hydrolytic splicing followed by polyadenylation as well as an in vivo circularization pathway, respectively. The presence of both linear and circular species in vivo is supported by RNase H analysis. Furthermore, the nad1 intron 2, which lacks a bulged nucleotide at the branchpoint position, comprised a mixed population of precisely full-length molecules and circular ones which also include a short, discrete block of non-encoded nucleotides. The presence of these various linear and circular forms of excised intron molecules in plant mitochondria points to multiple novel group II splicing mechanisms in vivo
Long-term and age-dependent restoration of visual function in a mouse model of CNGB3-associated achromatopsia following gene therapy
Mutations in the CNGB3 gene account for >50% of all known cases of achromatopsia. Although of early onset, its stationary character and the potential for rapid assessment of restoration of retinal function following therapy renders achromatopsia a very attractive candidate for gene therapy. Here we tested the efficacy of an rAAV2/8 vector containing a human cone arrestin promoter and a human CNGB3 cDNA in CNGB3 deficient mice. Following subretinal delivery of the vector, CNGB3 was detected in both M- and S-cones and resulted in increased levels of CNGA3, increased cone density and survival, improved cone outer segment structure and normal subcellular compartmentalization of cone opsins. Therapy also resulted in long-term improvement of retinal function, with restoration of cone ERG amplitudes of up to 90% of wild-type and a significant improvement in visual acuity. Remarkably, successful restoration of cone function was observed even when treatment was initiated at 6 months of age; however, restoration of normal visual acuity was only possible in younger animals (e.g. 2–4 weeks old). This study represents achievement of the most substantial restoration of visual function reported to date in an animal model of achromatopsia using a human gene construct, which has the potential to be utilized in clinical trials
OPA1 mutations induce mitochondrial DNA instability and optic atrophy ‘plus’ phenotypes
Mutations in OPA1, a dynamin-related GTPase involved in mitochondrial fusion, cristae organization and control of apoptosis, have been linked to non-syndromic optic neuropathy transmitted as an autosomal-dominant trait (DOA). We here report on eight patients from six independent families showing that mutations in the OPA1 gene can also be responsible for a syndromic form of DOA associated with sensorineural deafness, ataxia, axonal sensory-motor polyneuropathy, chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia and mitochondrial myopathy with cytochrome c oxidase negative and Ragged Red Fibres. Most remarkably, we demonstrate that these patients all harboured multiple deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in their skeletal muscle, thus revealing an unrecognized role of the OPA1 protein in mtDNA stability. The five OPA1 mutations associated with these DOA ‘plus’ phenotypes were all mis-sense point mutations affecting highly conserved amino acid positions and the nuclear genes previously known to induce mtDNA multiple deletions such as POLG1, PEO1 (Twinkle) and SLC25A4 (ANT1) were ruled out. Our results show that certain OPA1 mutations exert a dominant negative effect responsible for multi-systemic disease, closely related to classical mitochondrial cytopathies, by a mechanism involving mtDNA instability
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