Modulation of the extraordinary optical transmission by surface acoustic waves

International audienceThe numerical study of periodically nanostructured metallic films exhibiting extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) deposited onto the top of a piezoelectric material is reported. Surface acoustic waves are generated in the piezoelectric substrate and their influence in the transmission spectrum of the EOT structure is studied. It is shown that low frequency acoustic waves can significantly tune the resonance frequency of the EOT structure

Experimental observations of topologically guided water waves within non-hexagonal structures

We investigate symmetry-protected topological water waves within a strategically engineered square lattice system. Thus far, symmetry-protected topological modes in hexagonal systems have primarily been studied in electromagnetism and acoustics, i.e. dispersionless media. Herein, we show experimentally how crucial geometrical properties of square structures allow for topological transport that is ordinarily forbidden within conventional hexagonal structures. We perform numerical simulations that take into account the inherent dispersion within water waves and devise a topological insulator that supports symmetry-protected transport along the domain walls. Our measurements, viewed with a high-speed camera under stroboscopic illumination, unambiguously demonstrate the valley-locked transport of water waves within a non-hexagonal structure. Due to the tunability of the energy's directionality by geometry, our results could be used for developing highly-efficient energy harvesters, filters and beam-splitters within dispersive media

Complete band gaps in two-dimensional phononic crystal slabs

© 2006 American Physical Society. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.74.046610DOI: .1103/PhysRevE.74.046610The propagation of acoustic waves in a phononic crystal slab consisting of piezoelectric inclusions placed periodically in an isotropic host material is analyzed. Numerical examples are obtained for a square lattice of quartz cylinders embedded in an epoxy matrix. It is found that several complete band gaps with a variable bandwidth exist for elastic waves of any polarization and incidence. In addition to the filling fraction, it is found that a key parameter for the existence and the width of these complete band gaps is the ratio of the slab thickness, d, to the lattice period, a. Especially, we have explored how these absolute band gaps close up as the parameter d∕a increases. Significantly, it is observed that the band gaps of a phononic crystal slab are distinct from those of bulk acoustic waves propagating in the plane of an infinite two-dimensional phononic crystal with the same composition. The band gaps of the slab are strongly affected by the presence of cutoff frequency modes that cannot be excited in infinite media

Modeling and experimental verification of an ultra-wide bandgap in 3D phononic crystal

This paper reports a comprehensive modeling and experimental characterization of a three-dimensional phononic crystal composed of a single material, endowed with an ultra-wide complete bandgap. The phononic band structure shows a gap-mid gap ratio of 132% that is by far the greatest full 3D bandgap in literature for any kind of phononic crystals. A prototype of the finite crystal structure has been manufactured in polyamide by means of additive manufacturing technology and tested to assess the transmission spectrum of the crystal. The transmission spectrum has been numerically calculated taking into account a frequency-dependent elastic modulus and a Rayleigh model for damping. The measured and numerical transmission spectra are in good agreement and present up to 75 dB of attenuation for a three-layer crystal

Merkel cell polyomavirus large T antigen disrupts lysosome clustering by translocating human Vam6p from the cytoplasm to the nucleus

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) has been recently described as the cause for most human Merkel cell carcinomas. MCV is similar to simian virus 40 (SV40) and encodes a nuclear large T (LT) oncoprotein that is usually mutated to eliminate viral replication among tumor-derived MCV. We identified the hVam6p cytoplasmic protein involved in lysosomal processing as a novel interactor with MCV LT but not SV40 LT. hVam6p binds through its clathrin heavy chain homology domain to a unique region of MCV LT adjacent to the retinoblastoma binding site. MCV LT translocates hVam6p to the nucleus, sequestering it from involvement in lysosomal trafficking. A naturally occurring, tumor-derived mutant LT (MCV350) lacking a nuclear localization signal binds hVam6p but fails to inhibit hVam6p-induced lysosomal clustering. MCV has evolved a novel mechanism to target hVam6p that may contribute to viral uncoating or egress through lysosomal processing during virus replication

On a universal photonic tunnelling time

We consider photonic tunnelling through evanescent regions and obtain general analytic expressions for the transit (phase) time $\tau$ (in the opaque barrier limit) in order to study the recently proposed ``universality'' property according to which $\tau$ is given by the reciprocal of the photon frequency. We consider different physical phenomena (corresponding to performed experiments) and show that such a property is only an approximation. In particular we find that the ``correction'' factor is a constant term for total internal reflection and quarter-wave photonic bandgap, while it is frequency-dependent in the case of undersized waveguide and distributed Bragg reflector. The comparison of our predictions with the experimental results shows quite a good agreement with observations and reveals the range of applicability of the approximated ``universality'' property.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; subsection added with a new experiment analyzed, some other minor change

Superluminal effects for quantum tunneling through two successive barriers

We study the phenomenon of one-dimensional non-resonant tunnelling through two successive potential barriers, separated by an intermediate free region R, by analyzing the relevant solutions to the Schroedinger equation. We find that the total traversal time is INDEPENDENT not only of the barrier widths (the so-called "Hartman effect"), but also of the R-width: so that the effective velocity in the region R, between the two barriers, can be regarded as infinite. This agrees with the results known from the corresponding waveguide experiments, which simulated the tunnelling experiment herein considered because of the formal identity between the Schroedinger and the Helmholtz equation [PACS numbers: 73.40.Gk; 03.65.-w; 03.30.+p; 41.20.Jb; 84.40.Az].Comment: plain LaTeX file (8 pages), including 1 figure (in LaTeX). Replaced with improvements in some intermediary equation

Small Corrections to the Tunneling Phase Time Formulation

After reexamining the above barrier diffusion problem where we notice that the wave packet collision implies the existence of {\em multiple} reflected and transmitted wave packets, we analyze the way of obtaining phase times for tunneling/reflecting particles in a particular colliding configuration where the idea of multiple peak decomposition is recovered. To partially overcome the analytical incongruities which frequently rise up when the stationary phase method is adopted for computing the (tunneling) phase time expressions, we present a theoretical exercise involving a symmetrical collision between two identical wave packets and a unidimensional squared potential barrier where the scattered wave packets can be recomposed by summing the amplitudes of simultaneously reflected and transmitted wave components so that the conditions for applying the stationary phase principle are totally recovered. Lessons concerning the use of the stationary phase method are drawn.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Respiratory modulation of oscillometric cuff pressure pulses and Korotkoff sounds during clinical blood pressure measurement in healthy adults

BACKGROUND: Accurate blood pressure (BP) measurement depends on the reliability of oscillometric cuff pressure pulses (OscP) and Korotkoff sounds (KorS) for automated oscillometric and manual techniques. It has been widely accepted that respiration is one of the main factors affecting BP measurement. However, little is known about how respiration affects the signals from which BP measurement is obtained. The aim was to quantify the modulation effect of respiration on oscillometric pulses and KorS during clinical BP measurement. METHODS: Systolic and diastolic BPs were measured manually from 40 healthy subjects (from 23 to 65 years old) under normal and regular deep breathing. The following signals were digitally recorded during linear cuff deflation: chest motion from a magnetometer to obtain reference respiration, cuff pressure from an electronic pressure sensor to derive OscP, and KorS from a digital stethoscope. The effects of respiration on both OscP and KorS were determined from changes in their amplitude associated with respiration between systole and diastole. These changes were normalized to the mean signal amplitude of OscP and KorS to derive the respiratory modulation depth. Reference respiration frequency, and the frequencies derived from the amplitude modulation of OscP and KorS were also calculated and compared. RESULTS: Respiratory modulation depth was 14 and 40 % for OscP and KorS respectively under normal breathing condition, with significant increases (both p  0.05) during deep breathing, and for the oscillometric signal during normal breathing (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirmed and quantified the respiratory modulation effect on the oscillometric pulses and KorS during clinical BP measurement, with increased modulation depth under regular deeper breathing