Excitation of Single Quasiparticles in a Small Superconducting Al Island Connected to Normal-Metal Leads by Tunnel Junctions

We investigate the dynamics of individual quasiparticle excitations on a small superconducting aluminum island connected to normal metallic leads by tunnel junctions. We find the island to be free of excitations within the measurement resolution. This allows us to show that the residual heating, which typically limits experiments on superconductors, has an ultralow value of less than 0.1 aW. By injecting electrons with a periodic gate voltage, we probe electron-phonon interaction and relaxation down to a single quasiparticle excitation pair, with a measured recombination rate of 16 kHz. Our experiment yields a strong test of BCS theory in aluminum as the results are consistent with it without free parameters.Peer reviewe

Trapping hot quasi-particles in a high-power superconducting electronic cooler

The performance of hybrid superconducting electronic coolers is usually limited by the accumulation of hot quasi-particles in their superconducting leads. This issue is all the more stringent in large-scale and high-power devices, as required by the applications. Introducing a metallic drain connected to the superconducting electrodes via a fine-tuned tunnel barrier, we efficiently remove quasi-particles and obtain electronic cooling from 300 mK down to 130 mK with a 400 pW cooling power. A simple thermal model accounts for the experimental observations.Peer reviewe

Roadmap on quantum nanotechnologies

Quantum phenomena are typically observable at length and time scales smaller than those of our everyday experience, often involving individual particles or excitations. The past few decades have seen a revolution in the ability to structure matter at the nanoscale, and experiments at the single particle level have become commonplace. This has opened wide new avenues for exploring and harnessing quantum mechanical effects in condensed matter. These quantum phenomena, in turn, have the potential to revolutionize the way we communicate, compute and probe the nanoscale world. Here, we review developments in key areas of quantum research in light of the nanotechnologies that enable them, with a view to what the future holds. Materials and devices with nanoscale features are used for quantum metrology and sensing, as building blocks for quantum computing, and as sources and detectors for quantum communication. They enable explorations of quantum behaviour and unconventional states in nano- and opto-mechanical systems, low-dimensional systems, molecular devices, nano-plasmonics, quantum electrodynamics, scanning tunnelling microscopy, and more. This rapidly expanding intersection of nanotechnology and quantum science/technology is mutually beneficial to both fields, laying claim to some of the most exciting scientific leaps of the last decade, with more on the horizon

Experience versus complication rate in third molar surgery

OBJECTIVES: The records of 1087 patients who underwent surgical removal of third molar teeth were prospectively examined to analyse the possible relationship between postoperative complications and the surgeon's experience parameter. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Seven surgeons (three specialists in surgical dentistry [specialists SD] and four oral and maxillofacial Senior House Officers [OMFS residents]) carried out the surgical procedures. For each patient, several variables were recorded including age, gender, radiographic position of extracted teeth, treating surgeon, duration of surgery and postoperative complications. RESULTS: Analysis of the data revealed some differences in the incidence of complications produced by the specialists SD and OMFS residents. The main statistically relevant differences were increase the incidences of trismus, nerve paraesthesia, alveolar osteitis and infection in the resident-treated group, while the specialist-treated group showed higher rates of post-operative bleeding. CONCLUSION: The higher rate of postoperative complications in the resident-treated group suggests that at least some of the complications might be related to surgical experience. Further work needs to compare specialists of training programmes with different years of experience, using large cross – sectional studies

Bone–Biomaterial Interface:the effects of surface modified NiTi shape memory alloy on bone cells and tissue

Abstract Whenever a foreign material is implanted into a human body an implant–tissue interface area forms between them. In this microenvironment, interactions take place between the implant and the surrounding tissue. The implantation of a biomaterial into tissue results in injury and initiation of the inflammatory response. This host response to biomaterials is an unavoidable series of events that occur when tissue homeostasis is disturbed by the implantation process. In bone tissue, biocompatible implants must initially be capable of strong bone implant contact and subsequently, allow the normal bone remodeling cycle around the implant. NiTi is a metal alloy composed of approximately a 50:50 ratio of nickel and titanium. It possesses shape memory and superelasticity properties, which make it an interesting biomaterial. NiTi has two phases: austenite and martensite. A decrease in temperature or applied stress induce the austenite-to-martensite transformation. Heating or removing the stress restores the parent austenite phase. The alloy in its martensite structure can be reshaped and strained several times more than a conventional metal alloy without irreversible deformation of the material. The alloy returns to its original shape as it changes from martensite-to-austenite. This transformation is seen as the macroscopic shape memory effect. This study further investigated the biocompatibility of NiTi, especially the bone cell response to both austenite and martensite. Different surface treatments were investigated in order to improve and possibly even control NiTi's bioactivity as a bone implant material. Osteoclasts grew and attached well on the austenite NiTi phase, but the results indicated that the biocompatibility of martensite NiTi was compromised. Oxidation of the NiTi surface improved osteoblast attachment and viability. This was due to the formation of a TiO2 surface layer of moderate thickness. Coating the NiTi surface with the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin was shown to enhance osteoblast proliferation and increase the number of cells in the G1 cell cycle stage. Austenite was more prone to show these effects than martensite. A sol-gel derived titania-silica surface treatment was observed to increase the bone implant contact of functional NiTi intramedullary nails. The surface treatment was most effective with the constant bending load provided by the NiTi nail