62 research outputs found
Evidence of polariton induced transparency in a single organic quantum wire
The resonant interaction between quasi-one dimensional excitons and photons
is investigated. For a single isolated organic quantum wire, embedded in its
single crystal monomer matrix, the strong exciton-photon coupling regime is
reached. This is evidenced by the suppression of the resonant excitonic
absorption arising when the system eigenstate is a polariton. These
observations demonstrate that the resonant excitonic absorption in a
semiconductor can be understood in terms of a balance between the exciton
coherence time and the Rabi period between exciton-like and photon-like states
of the polariton.Comment: 9 pages and 4 figure
Influence of exciton spin relaxation on the photoluminescence spectra of semimagnetic quantum dots
We present a comprehensive experimental and theoretical studies of
photoluminescence of single CdMnTe quantum dots with Mn content x ranging from
0.01 to 0.2. We distinguish three stages of the equilibration of the exciton-Mn
ion spin system and show that the intermediate stage, in which the exciton spin
is relaxed, while the total equilibrium is not attained, gives rise to a
specific asymmetric shape of the photoluminescence spectrum. From an excellent
agreement between the measured and calculated spectra we are able to evaluate
the exciton localization volume, number of paramagnetic Mn ions, and their
temperature for each particular dot. We discuss the values of these parameters
and compare them with results of other experiments. Furthermore, we analyze the
dependence of average Zeeman shifts and transition linewidths on the Mn content
and point out specific processes, which control these values at particular Mn
concentrations.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Resonant excitonic emission of a single quantum dot in the Rabi regime
We report on coherent resonant emission of the fundamental exciton state in a
single semiconductor GaAs quantum dot. Resonant regime with picoseconde laser
excitation is realized by embedding the quantum dots in a waveguiding
structure. As the pulse intensity is increased, Rabi oscillation is observed up
to three periods. The Rabi regime is achieved owing to an enhanced light-matter
coupling in the waveguide. This is due to a \emph{slow light effect}
(), occuring when an intense resonant pulse propagates in a
medium. The resonant control of the quantum dot fundamental transition opens
new possibilities in quantum state manipulation and quantum optics experiments
in condensed matter physics.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
The fidelity of dynamic signaling by noisy biomolecular networks
This is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.Cells live in changing, dynamic environments. To understand cellular decision-making, we must therefore understand how fluctuating inputs are processed by noisy biomolecular networks. Here we present a general methodology for analyzing the fidelity with which different statistics of a fluctuating input are represented, or encoded, in the output of a signaling system over time. We identify two orthogonal sources of error that corrupt perfect representation of the signal: dynamical error, which occurs when the network responds on average to other features of the input trajectory as well as to the signal of interest, and mechanistic error, which occurs because biochemical reactions comprising the signaling mechanism are stochastic. Trade-offs between these two errors can determine the system's fidelity. By developing mathematical approaches to derive dynamics conditional on input trajectories we can show, for example, that increased biochemical noise (mechanistic error) can improve fidelity and that both negative and positive feedback degrade fidelity, for standard models of genetic autoregulation. For a group of cells, the fidelity of the collective output exceeds that of an individual cell and negative feedback then typically becomes beneficial. We can also predict the dynamic signal for which a given system has highest fidelity and, conversely, how to modify the network design to maximize fidelity for a given dynamic signal. Our approach is general, has applications to both systems and synthetic biology, and will help underpin studies of cellular behavior in natural, dynamic environments.We acknowledge support from a Medical Research Council and Engineering and Physical Sciences Council funded Fellowship in Biomedical Informatics (CGB) and a Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance chair in Systems Biology (PSS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
On the exciton binding energy in a quantum well
We consider a model describing the one-dimensional confinement of an exciton
in a symmetrical, rectangular quantum-well structure and derive upper and lower
bounds for the binding energy of the exciton. Based on these bounds, we
study the dependence of on the width of the confining potential with a
higher accuracy than previous reports. For an infinitely deep potential the
binding energy varies as expected from at large widths to at
small widths. For a finite potential, but without consideration of a mass
mismatch or a dielectric mismatch, we substantiate earlier results that the
binding energy approaches the value for both small and large widths,
having a characteristic peak for some intermediate size of the slab. Taking the
mismatch into account, this result will in general no longer be true. For the
specific case of a quantum-well
structure, however, and in contrast to previous findings, the peak structure is
shown to survive.Comment: 32 pages, ReVTeX, including 9 figure
Magnetic polaron formation and exciton spin relaxation in single CdMnTe quantum dots
We study the formation dynamics of a spontaneous ferromagnetic order in
single self-assembled CdMnTe quantum dots. By measuring time-resolved
photoluminescence, we determine the formation times for QDs with Mn ion
contents x varying from 0.01 to 0.2. At low x these times are orders of
magnitude longer than exciton spin relaxation times evaluated from the decay of
photoluminescence circular polarization. This allows us to conclude that the
direction of the spontaneous magnetization is determined by a momentary Mn spin
fluctuation rather than resulting from an optical orientation. At higher x, the
formation times are of the same order of magnitude as found in previous studies
on higher dimensional systems. We also find that the exciton spin relaxation
accelerates with increasing Mn concentration.Comment: sent to Physical Review
Local disorder and optical properties in V-shaped quantum wires : towards one-dimensional exciton systems
The exciton localization is studied in GaAs/GaAlAs V-shaped quantum wires
(QWRs) by high spatial resolution spectroscopy. Scanning optical imaging of
different generations of samples shows that the localization length has been
enhanced as the growth techniques were improved. In the best samples, excitons
are delocalized in islands of length of the order of 1 micron, and form a
continuum of 1D states in each of them, as evidenced by the sqrt(T) dependence
of the radiative lifetime. On the opposite, in the previous generation of QWRs,
the localization length is typically 50 nm and the QWR behaves as a collection
of quantum boxes. These localization properties are compared to structural
properties and related to the progresses of the growth techniques. The presence
of residual disorder is evidenced in the best samples and explained by the
separation of electrons and holes due to the large in-built piezo-electric
field present in the structure.Comment: 8 figure
Efficacy and safety of sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: subanalyses of a phase III trial
Background & AimsThe Sorafenib Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Assessment Randomized Protocol (SHARP) trial demonstrated that sorafenib improves overall survival and is safe for patients with advanced HCC. In this trial, 602 patients with well-preserved liver function (>95% ChildâPugh A) were randomized to receive either sorafenib 400mg or matching placebo orally b.i.d. on a continuous basis. Because HCC is a heterogeneous disease, baseline patient characteristics may affect individual responses to treatment. In a comprehensive series of exploratory subgroup analyses, data from the SHARP trial were analyzed to discern if baseline patient characteristics influenced the efficacy and safety of sorafenib.MethodsFive subgroup domains were assessed: disease etiology, tumor burden, performance status, tumor stage, and prior therapy. Overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP), disease control rate (DCR), and safety were assessed for subgroups within each domain.ResultsSubgroup analyses showed that sorafenib consistently improved median OS compared with placebo, as reflected by hazard ratios (HRs) of 0.50â0.85, similar to the complete cohort (HR=0.69). Sorafenib also consistently improved median TTP (HR, 0.40â0.64), except in HBV-positive patients (HR, 1.03), and DCR. Results are limited by small patient numbers in some subsets. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events included diarrhea, hand-foot skin reaction, and fatigue; the incidence of which did not differ appreciably among subgroups.ConclusionsThese exploratory subgroup analyses showed that sorafenib consistently improved median OS and DCR compared with placebo in patients with advanced HCC, irrespective of disease etiology, baseline tumor burden, performance status, tumor stage, and prior therapy
Oncogenic PIK3CA corrupts growth factor signaling specificity
Pathological activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway is among the most frequent defects in human cancer and is also the cause of rare overgrowth disorders. Yet, there is currently no systematic understanding of the quantitative flow of information within PI3K/AKT signaling and how it is perturbed by disease-causing mutations. Here, we develop scalable, single-cell approaches for systematic analyses of signal processing within the PI3K pathway, enabling precise calculations of its information transfer for different growth factors. Using genetically-engineered human cell models with allele dose-dependent expression of PIK3CAH1047R, we show that this oncogene is not a simple, constitutive pathway activator but a context-dependent modulator of extracellular signal transfer. PIK3CAH1047Rreduces information transmission downstream of IGF1 while selectively enhancing EGF-induced signaling and transcriptional responses. This leads to a gross reduction in signaling specificity, akin to âblurredâ signal perception. The associated increase in signaling heterogeneity promotes phenotypic diversity in a human cervical cancer cell line model and in human induced pluripotent stem cells. Collectively, these findings and the accompanying methodological advances lay the foundations for a systematic mapping of the quantitative mechanisms of PI3K/AKT-dependent signal processing and phenotypic control in health and disease
Probing electron-phonon interaction through two-photon interference in resonantly driven semiconductor quantum dots
We investigate the temperature dependence of photon coherence properties through two-photon interference (TPI) measurements from a single quantum dot (QD) under resonant excitation. We show that the loss of indistinguishability is related only to the electron-phonon coupling and is not affected by spectral diffusion. Through these measurements and a complementary microscopic theory, we identify two independent separate decoherence processes, both of which are associated with phonons. Below 10 K, we find that the relaxation of the vibrational lattice is the dominant contribution to the loss of TPI visibility. This process is non-Markovian in nature and corresponds to real phonon transitions resulting in a broad phonon sideband in the QD emission spectra. Above 10 K, virtual phonon transitions to higher lying excited states in the QD become the dominant dephasing mechanism, this leads to a broadening of the zero phonon line, and a corresponding rapid decay in the visibility. The microscopic theory we develop provides analytic expressions for the dephasing rates for both virtual phonon scattering and non-Markovian lattice relaxation
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