Enhancement of the Spin Accumulation at the Interface Between a Spin-Polarized Tunnel Junction and a Semiconductor

We report on spin injection experiments at a Co/Al$_2$O$_3$/GaAs interface with electrical detection. The application of a transverse magnetic field induces a large voltage drop $\Delta V$ at the interface as high as 1.2mV for a current density of 0.34 nA.$\mu m^{-2}$. This represents a dramatic increase of the spin accumulation signal, well above the theoretical predictions for spin injection through a ferromagnet/semiconductor interface. Such an enhancement is consistent with a sequential tunneling process via localized states located in the vicinity of the Al$_2$O$_3$/GaAs interface. For spin-polarized carriers these states act as an accumulation layer where the spin lifetime is large. A model taking into account the spin lifetime and the escape tunneling time for carriers travelling back into the ferromagnetic contact reproduces accurately the experimental results

Optically probing the fine structure of a single Mn atom in an InAs quantum dot

We report on the optical spectroscopy of a single InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) doped with a single Mn atom in a longitudinal magnetic field of a few Tesla. Our findings show that the Mn impurity is a neutral acceptor state A^0 whose effective spin J=1 is significantly perturbed by the QD potential and its associated strain field. The spin interaction with photo-carriers injected in the quantum dot is shown to be ferromagnetic for holes, with an effective coupling constant of a few hundreds of micro-eV, but vanishingly small for electrons.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Polariton laser using single micropillar GaAs-GaAlAs semiconductor cavities

Polariton lasing is demonstrated on the zero dimensional states of single GaAs/GaAlAs micropillar cavities. Under non resonant excitation, the measured polariton ground state occupancy is found to be as large as $10^{4}$. Changing the spatial excitation conditions, competition between several polariton lasing modes is observed, ruling out Bose-Einstein condensation. When the polariton state occupancy increases, the emission blueshift is the signature of self-interaction within the half-light half-matter polariton lasing mode.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Controlled light-matter coupling for a single quantum dot embedded in a pillar microcavity using far-field optical lithography

Using far field optical lithography, a single quantum dot is positioned within a pillar microcavity with a 50 nm accuracy. The lithography is performed in-situ at 10 K while measuring the quantum dot emission. Deterministic spectral and spatial matching of the cavity-dot system is achieved in a single step process and evidenced by the observation of strong Purcell effect. Deterministic coupling of two quantum dots to the same optical mode is achieved, a milestone for quantum computing.Comment: Modified version: new title, additional experimental data in figure

Magnetic patterning of (Ga,Mn)As by hydrogen passivation

We present an original method to magnetically pattern thin layers of (Ga,Mn)As. It relies on local hydrogen passivation to significantly lower the hole density, and thereby locally suppress the carrier-mediated ferromagnetic phase. The sample surface is thus maintained continuous, and the minimal structure size is of about 200 nm. In micron-sized ferromagnetic dots fabricated by hydrogen passivation on perpendicularly magnetized layers, the switching fields can be maintained closer to the continuous film coercivity, compared to dots made by usual dry etch techniques

Exciton polaritons in two-dimensional photonic crystals

Experimental evidence of strong coupling between excitons confined in a quantum well and the photonic modes of a two-dimensional dielectric lattice is reported. Both resonant scattering and photoluminescence spectra at low temperature show the anticrossing of the polariton branches, fingerprint of strong coupling regime. The experiments are successfully interpreted in terms of a quantum theory of exciton-photon coupling in the investigated structure. These results show that the polariton dispersion can be tailored by properly varying the photonic crystal lattice parameter, which opens the possibility to obtain the generation of entangled photon pairs through polariton stimulated scattering.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Transient chirp in high speed photonic crystal quantum dots lasers with controlled spontaneous emission

We report on a series of experiments on the dynamics of spontaneous emission controlled nanolasers. The laser cavity is a photonic crystal slab cavity, embedding self-assembled quantum dots as gain material. The implementation of cavity electrodynamics effects increases significantly the large signal modulation bandwidth, with measured modulation speeds of the order of 10 GHz while keeping an extinction ratio of 19 dB. A linear transient wavelength shift is reported, corresponding to a chirp of less than 100 pm for a 35-ps laser pulse. We observe that the chirp characteristics are independent of the repetition rate of the laser up to 10 GHz

Hypoxia-induced long non-coding RNA Malat1 is dispensable for renal ischemia/reperfusion-injury

Renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). Non-coding RNAs are crucially involved in its pathophysiology. We identified hypoxia-induced long non-coding RNA Malat1 (Metastasis Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1) to be upregulated in renal I/R injury. We here elucidated the functional role of Malat1 in vitro and its potential contribution to kidney injury in vivo. Malat1 was upregulated in kidney biopsies and plasma of patients with AKI, in murine hypoxic kidney tissue as well as in cultured and ex vivo sorted hypoxic endothelial cells and tubular epithelial cells. Malat1 was transcriptionally activated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1-a. In vitro, Malat1 inhibition reduced proliferation and the number of endothelial cells in the S-phase of the cell cycle. In vivo, Malat1 knockout and wildtype mice showed similar degrees of outer medullary tubular epithelial injury, proliferation, capillary rarefaction, inflammation and fibrosis, survival and kidney function. Small-RNA sequencing and whole genome expression analysis revealed only minor changes between ischemic Malat1 knockout and wildtype mice. Contrary to previous studies, which suggested a prominent role of Malat1 in the induction of disease, we did not confirm an in vivo role of Malat1 concerning renal I/Rinjury

Pparγ2 Is a Key Driver of Longevity in the Mouse

Aging involves a progressive physiological remodeling that is controlled by both genetic and environmental factors. Many of these factors impact also on white adipose tissue (WAT), which has been shown to be a determinant of lifespan. Interrogating a transcriptional network for predicted causal regulatory interactions in a collection of mouse WAT from F2 crosses with a seed set of 60 known longevity genes, we identified a novel transcriptional subnetwork of 742 genes which represent thus-far-unknown longevity genes. Within this subnetwork, one gene was Pparg (Nr1c3), an adipose-enriched nuclear receptor previously not associated with longevity. In silico, both the PPAR signaling pathway and the transcriptional signature of Pparγ agonist rosiglitazone overlapped with the longevity subnetwork, while in vivo, lowered expression of Pparg reduced lifespan in both the lipodystrophic Pparg1/2-hypomorphic and the Pparg2-deficient mice. These results establish Pparγ2 as one of the determinants of longevity and suggest that lifespan may be rather determined by a purposeful genetic program than a random process

Regulation of Apoptotic Mediators Reveals Dynamic Responses to Thermal Stress in the Reef Building Coral Acropora millepora

Background: Mass coral bleaching is increasing in scale and frequency across the world's coral reefs and is being driven primarily by increased levels of thermal stress arising from global warming. In order to understand the impacts of projected climate change upon corals reefs, it is important to elucidate the underlying cellular mechanisms that operate during coral bleaching and subsequent mortality. In this respect, increased apoptotic cell death activity is an important cellular process that is associated with the breakdown of the mutualistic symbiosis between the cnidarian host and their dinoflagellate symbionts