High-resolution microwave frequency dissemination on an 86-km urban optical link

We report the first demonstration of a long-distance ultra stable frequency dissemination in the microwave range. A 9.15 GHz signal is transferred through a 86-km urban optical link with a fractional frequency stability of 1.3x10-15 at 1 s integration time and below 10-18 at one day. The optical link phase noise compensation is performed with a round-trip method. To achieve such a result we implement light polarisation scrambling and dispersion compensation. This link outperforms all the previous radiofrequency links and compares well with recently demonstrated full optical links.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

A clock network for geodesy and fundamental science

Leveraging the unrivaled performance of optical clocks in applications in fundamental physics beyond the standard model, in geo-sciences, and in astronomy requires comparing the frequency of distant optical clocks truthfully. Meeting this requirement, we report on the first comparison and agreement of fully independent optical clocks separated by 700 km being only limited by the uncertainties of the clocks themselves. This is achieved by a phase-coherent optical frequency transfer via a 1415 km long telecom fiber link that enables substantially better precision than classical means of frequency transfer. The fractional precision in comparing the optical clocks of three parts in $10^{17}$ was reached after only 1000 s averaging time, which is already 10 times better and more than four orders of magnitude faster than with any other existing frequency transfer method. The capability of performing high resolution international clock comparisons paves the way for a redefinition of the unit of time and an all-optical dissemination of the SI-second.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

86-km optical link with a resolution of 2.10-18 for RF frequency transfer

RF frequency transfer over an urban 86 km fibre has been demonstrated with a resolution of 2.10-18 at one day measuring time using an optical compensator. This result is obtained with a reference carrier frequency of 1 GHz, and a rapid scrambling of the polarisation state of the input light in order to reduce the sensitivity to the polarisation mode dispersion in the fibre. The limitation due to the fibre chromatic dispersion associated with the laser frequency fluctuations is highlighted and analyzed. A preliminary test of an extended compensated link over 186 km using optical amplifiers gives a resolution below 10-17 at 1 day

Chronic T cell receptor stimulation unmasks NK receptor signaling in peripheral T cell lymphomas via epigenetic reprogramming.

Peripheral T cell lymphomas (PTCLs) represent a significant unmet medical need with dismal clinical outcomes. The T cell receptor (TCR) is emerging as a key driver of T lymphocyte transformation. However, the role of chronic TCR activation in lymphomagenesis and in lymphoma cell survival is still poorly understood. Using a mouse model, we report that chronic TCR stimulation drove T cell lymphomagenesis, whereas TCR signaling did not contribute to PTCL survival. The combination of kinome, transcriptome, and epigenome analyses of mouse PTCLs revealed a NK cell-like reprogramming of PTCL cells with expression of NK receptors (NKRs) and downstream signaling molecules such as Tyrobp and SYK. Activating NKRs were functional in PTCLs and dependent on SYK activity. In vivo blockade of NKR signaling prolonged mouse survival, demonstrating the addiction of PTCLs to NKRs and downstream SYK/mTOR activity for their survival. We studied a large collection of human primary samples and identified several PTCLs recapitulating the phenotype described in this model by their expression of SYK and the NKR, suggesting a similar mechanism of lymphomagenesis and establishing a rationale for clinical studies targeting such molecules

Contrasting Patterns of Sequence Evolution at the Functionally Redundant bric à brac Paralogs in Drosophila melanogaster

Genes with overlapping expression and function may gradually diverge despite retaining some common functions. To test whether such genes show distinct patterns of molecular evolution within species, we examined sequence variation at the bric à brac (bab) locus of Drosophila melanogaster. This locus is composed of two anciently duplicated paralogs, bab1 and bab2, which are involved in patterning the adult abdomen, legs, and ovaries. We have sequenced the 148 kb genomic region spanning the bab1 and bab2 genes from 94 inbred lines of D. melanogaster sampled from a single location. Two non-coding regions, one in each paralog, appear to be under selection. The strongest evidence of directional selection is found in a region of bab2 that has no known functional role. The other region is located in the bab1 paralog and is known to contain a cis-regulatory element that controls sex-specific abdominal pigmentation. The coding region of bab1 appears to be under stronger functional constraint than the bab2 coding sequences. Thus, the two paralogs are evolving under different selective regimes in the same natural population, illuminating the different evolutionary trajectories of partially redundant duplicate genes

Nouvelle technique de caractérisation physico-chimique des alliages à durcissement structural

International audienceno abstrac

Nouvelle technique de caractérisation physico-chimique des alliages à durcissement structural

International audienceno abstrac

Reliability aspects of ferroelectric TiN/Hf0.5Zr0.5O2/Ge capacitors grown by plasma assisted atomic oxygen deposition

The reliability of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor capacitors grown by plasma-assisted atomic oxygen deposition on Ge substrates is investigated with an emphasis on the influence of crystallization annealing. The capacitors show very weak wake-up and imprint effects, allowing reliable operation in excess of 10 years, which is attributed partly to the clean, oxide-free Ge/HZO bottom interface. The weak temperature dependence and the observed asymmetries between polarization up and down states and between positive and negative coercive voltage shifts lead to the conclusion that imprint is controlled by carrier injection at the top electrode interface. The latter mechanism is associated with trapping at interfacial oxygen-vacancy defects. On the other hand, using ultrafast (millisecond) flash annealing improves the leakage current by at least an order of magnitude and the endurance by a factor of 3 compared to conventional rapid thermal annealing, which makes them suitable for low power nonvolatile memory applications where (ultra)thin HZO is an essential requirement. © 2020 Author(s)