75 research outputs found
Engineering of quantum dot photon sources via electro-elastic fields
The possibility to generate and manipulate non-classical light using the
tools of mature semiconductor technology carries great promise for the
implementation of quantum communication science. This is indeed one of the main
driving forces behind ongoing research on the study of semiconductor quantum
dots. Often referred to as artificial atoms, quantum dots can generate single
and entangled photons on demand and, unlike their natural counterpart, can be
easily integrated into well-established optoelectronic devices. However, the
inherent random nature of the quantum dot growth processes results in a lack of
control of their emission properties. This represents a major roadblock towards
the exploitation of these quantum emitters in the foreseen applications. This
chapter describes a novel class of quantum dot devices that uses the combined
action of strain and electric fields to reshape the emission properties of
single quantum dots. The resulting electro-elastic fields allow for control of
emission and binding energies, charge states, and energy level splittings and
are suitable to correct for the quantum dot structural asymmetries that usually
prevent these semiconductor nanostructures from emitting polarization-entangled
photons. Key experiments in this field are presented and future directions are
discussed.Comment: to appear as a book chapter in a compilation "Engineering the
Atom-Photon Interaction" published by Springer in 2015, edited by A.
Predojevic and M. W. Mitchel
Quantum nature of a strongly-coupled single quantum dot-cavity system
Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) studies the interaction between a
quantum emitter and a single radiation-field mode. When an atom is in strong
coupling with a cavity mode1,2, it is possible to realize key quantum
information processing (QIP) tasks, such as controlled coherent coupling and
entanglement of distinguishable quantum systems. Realizing these tasks in the
solid state is clearly desirable, and coupling semiconductor self-assembled
quantum dots (QDs) to monolithic optical cavities is a promising route to this
end. However, validating the efficacy of QDs in QIP applications requires
confirmation of the quantum nature of the QD-cavity system in the strong
coupling regime. Here we find a confirmation by observing quantum correlations
in photoluminescence (PL) from a photonic crystal (PC) nanocavity3-5
interacting with one, and only one, QD located precisely at the cavity electric
field maximum. When off-resonance, photon emission from the cavity mode and QD
excitons is anti-correlated at the level of single quanta, proving that the
mode is driven solely by the QD despite an energy mis-match between cavity and
excitons. When tuned into resonance, the exciton and photon enter the
strong-coupling regime of cavity-QED and the QD lifetime reduces by a factor of
120. The photon stream from the cavity becomes anti-bunched, proving that the
coupled exciton/photon system is in the quantum anharmonic regime. Our
observations unequivocally show that QIP tasks requiring the quantum nonlinear
regime are achievable in the solid state.Comment: 14 pages 4 figure
Bright excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides: from Dirac cones to Dirac saddle points
In monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, tightly bound excitons have
been discovered with a valley pseudospin that can be optically addressed
through polarization selection rules. Here, we show that this valley pseudospin
is strongly coupled to the exciton center-of-mass motion through electron-hole
exchange. This coupling realizes a massless Dirac cone with chirality index I=2
for excitons inside the light cone, i.e. bright excitons. Under moderate
strain, the I=2 Dirac cone splits into two degenerate I=1 Dirac cones, and
saddle points with a linear Dirac spectrum emerge in the bright exciton
dispersion. Interestingly, after binding an extra electron, the charged exciton
becomes a massive Dirac particle associated with a large valley Hall effect
protected from intervalley scattering. Our results point to unique
opportunities to study Dirac physics, with exciton's optical addressability at
specifiable momentum, energy and pseudospin. The strain-tunable valley-orbit
coupling also implies new structures of exciton condensates, new
functionalities of excitonic circuits, and possibilities for mechanical control
of valley pseudospin
Broadband THz absorption spectrometer based on excitonic nonlinear optical effects
A broadly tunable THz source is realized via difference frequency generation, in which an enhancement to Ï (3) that is obtained via resonant excitation of IIIâV semiconductor quantum well excitons is utilized. The symmetry of the quantum wells (QWs) is broken by utilizing the built-in electric-field across a pâiân junction to produce effective Ï (2) processes, which are derived from the high Ï (3) . This Ï (2) media exhibits an onset of nonlinear processes at ~4 W cm â2 , thereby enabling area (and, hence, power) scaling of the THz emitter. Phase matching is realized laterally through normal incidence excitation. Using two collimated 130 mW continuous wave (CW) semiconductor lasers with ~1-mm beam diameters, we realize monochromatic THz emission that is tunable from 0.75 to 3 THz and demonstrate the possibility that this may span 0.2â6 THz with linewidths of ~20 GHz and efficiencies of ~1 Ă 10 â5 , thereby realizing ~800 nW of THz power. Then, transmission spectroscopy of atmospheric features is demonstrated, thereby opening the way for compact, low-cost, swept-wavelength THz spectroscopy
A functional variant in the Stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene promoter enhances fatty acid desaturation in pork
There is growing public concern about reducing saturated fat intake. Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is the lipogenic enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of oleic acid (18:1) by desaturating stearic acid (18:0). Here we describe a total of 18 mutations in the promoter and 3âČ non-coding region of the pig SCD gene and provide evidence that allele T at AY487830:g.2228T>C in the promoter region enhances fat desaturation (the ratio 18:1/18:0 in muscle increases from 3.78 to 4.43 in opposite homozygotes) without affecting fat content (18:0+18:1, intramuscular fat content, and backfat thickness). No mutations that could affect the functionality of the protein were found in the coding region. First, we proved in a purebred Duroc line that the C-T-A haplotype of the 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (g.2108C>T; g.2228T>C; g.2281A>G) of the promoter region was additively associated to enhanced 18:1/18:0 both in muscle and subcutaneous fat, but not in liver. We show that this association was consistent over a 10-year period of overlapping generations and, in line with these results, that the C-T-A haplotype displayed greater SCD mRNA expression in muscle. The effect of this haplotype was validated both internally, by comparing opposite homozygote siblings, and externally, by using experimental Duroc-based crossbreds. Second, the g.2281A>G and the g.2108C>T SNPs were excluded as causative mutations using new and previously published data, restricting the causality to g.2228T>C SNP, the last source of genetic variation within the haplotype. This mutation is positioned in the core sequence of several putative transcription factor binding sites, so that there are several plausible mechanisms by which allele T enhances 18:1/18:0 and, consequently, the proportion of monounsaturated to saturated fat.This research was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2009-09779 and AGL2012-33529). RRF is recipient of a PhD scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (BES-2010-034607). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of manuscript
Quantum Rings in Electromagnetic Fields
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this recordThis chapter is devoted to optical properties of so-called Aharonov-Bohm
quantum rings (quantum rings pierced by a magnetic flux resulting in AharonovBohm
oscillations of their electronic spectra) in external electromagnetic fields.
It studies two problems. The first problem deals with a single-electron AharonovBohm
quantum ring pierced by a magnetic flux and subjected to an in-plane (lateral)
electric field. We predict magneto-oscillations of the ring electric dipole moment.
These oscillations are accompanied by periodic changes in the selection rules for
inter-level optical transitions in the ring allowing control of polarization properties
of the associated terahertz radiation. The second problem treats a single-mode microcavity
with an embedded Aharonov-Bohm quantum ring which is pierced by a
magnetic flux and subjected to a lateral electric field. We show that external electric
and magnetic fields provide additional means of control of the emission spectrum
of the system. In particular, when the magnetic flux through the quantum ring is
equal to a half-integer number of the magnetic flux quanta, a small change in the
lateral electric field allows for tuning of the energy levels of the quantum ring into
resonance with the microcavity mode, thus providing an efficient way to control
the quantum ring-microcavity coupling strength. Emission spectra of the system are
discussed for several combinations of the applied magnetic and electric fields
The 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign: An Overview
A major goal of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is to make accurate images with resolutions of tens of milliarcseconds, which at submillimeter (submm) wavelengths requires baselines up to ~15 km. To develop and test this capability, a Long Baseline Campaign (LBC) was carried out from September to late November 2014, culminating in end-to-end observations, calibrations, and imaging of selected Science Verification (SV) targets. This paper presents an overview of the campaign and its main results, including an investigation of the short-term coherence properties and systematic phase errors over the long baselines at the ALMA site, a summary of the SV targets and observations, and recommendations for science observing strategies at long baselines. Deep ALMA images of the quasar 3C138 at 97 and 241 GHz are also compared to VLA 43 GHz results, demonstrating an agreement at a level of a few percent. As a result of the extensive program of LBC testing, the highly successful SV imaging at long baselines achieved angular resolutions as fine as 19 mas at ~350 GHz. Observing with ALMA on baselines of up to 15 km is now possible, and opens up new parameter space for submm astronomy
Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis
Background
Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis.
Methods
A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16â45âyears presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis).
Results
Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which twoâthirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; Pâ<â0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cutâoff score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cutâoff score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent).
Conclusion
Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decisionâmaking by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified
Stability of SU(N) symmetry in Coqblin-Schrieffer model by perturbative renormalization group.
A two-band Kondo model with competing ferro- and antiferromagnetic exchange interaction.
- âŠ