365 research outputs found
Cell membrane modulation as adjuvant in cancer therapy
Cancer is a complex disease involving numerous biological processes, which can exist in parallel, can be complementary, or are engaged when needed and as such can replace each other. This redundancy in possibilities cancer cells have, are fundamental to failure of therapy. However, intrinsic features of tumor cells and tumors as a whole provide also opportunities for therapy. Here we discuss the unique and specific makeup and arrangement of cell membranes of tumor cells and how these may help treatment. Interestingly, knowledge on cell membranes and associated structures is present already for decades, while application of membrane modification and manipulation as part of cancer therapy is lagging. Recent developments of scientific tools concerning lipids and lipid metabolism, opened new and previously unknown aspects of tumor cells and indicate possible differences in lipid composition and membrane function of tumor cells compared to healthy cells. This field, coined Lipidomics, demonstrates the importance of lipid components in cell membrane in several illnesses. Important alterations in cancer, and specially in resistant cancer cells compared to normal cells, opened the door to new therapeutic strategies. Moreover, the ability to modulate membrane components and/or properties has become a reality. Here, developments in cancer-related Lipidomics and strategies to interfere specifically with cancer cell membranes and how these affect cancer treatment are discussed. We hypothesize that combination of lipid or membrane targeted strategies with available care to improve chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy will bring the much needed change in treatment in the years to come
Thermionic charge transport in CMOS nano-transistors
We report on DC and microwave electrical transport measurements in
silicon-on-insulator CMOS nano-transistors at low and room temperature. At low
source-drain voltage, the DC current and RF response show signs of conductance
quantization. We attribute this to Coulomb blockade resulting from barriers
formed at the spacer-gate interfaces. We show that at high bias transport
occurs thermionically over the highest barrier: Transconductance traces
obtained from microwave scattering-parameter measurements at liquid helium and
room temperature is accurately fitted by a thermionic model. From the fits we
deduce the ratio of gate capacitance and quantum capacitance, as well as the
electron temperature
Charge dynamics and spin blockade in a hybrid double quantum dot in silicon
Electron spin qubits in silicon, whether in quantum dots or in donor atoms,
have long been considered attractive qubits for the implementation of a quantum
computer due to the semiconductor vacuum character of silicon and its
compatibility with the microelectronics industry. While donor electron spins in
silicon provide extremely long coherence times and access to the nuclear spin
via the hyperfine interaction, quantum dots have the complementary advantages
of fast electrical operations, tunability and scalability. Here we present an
approach to a novel hybrid double quantum dot by coupling a donor to a
lithographically patterned artificial atom. Using gate-based rf reflectometry,
we probe the charge stability of this double quantum dot system and the
variation of quantum capacitance at the interdot charge transition. Using
microwave spectroscopy, we find a tunnel coupling of 2.7 GHz and characterise
the charge dynamics, which reveals a charge T2* of 200 ps and a relaxation time
T1 of 100 ns. Additionally, we demonstrate spin blockade at the inderdot
transition, opening up the possibility to operate this coupled system as a
singlet-triplet qubit or to transfer a coherent spin state between the quantum
dot and the donor electron and nucleus.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, supplementary information (3 pages, 4 figures
Scaling silicon-based quantum computing using CMOS technology: State-of-the-art, Challenges and Perspectives
Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology has radically
reshaped the world by taking humanity to the digital age. Cramming more
transistors into the same physical space has enabled an exponential increase in
computational performance, a strategy that has been recently hampered by the
increasing complexity and cost of miniaturization. To continue achieving
significant gains in computing performance, new computing paradigms, such as
quantum computing, must be developed. However, finding the optimal physical
system to process quantum information, and scale it up to the large number of
qubits necessary to build a general-purpose quantum computer, remains a
significant challenge. Recent breakthroughs in nanodevice engineering have
shown that qubits can now be manufactured in a similar fashion to silicon
field-effect transistors, opening an opportunity to leverage the know-how of
the CMOS industry to address the scaling challenge. In this article, we focus
on the analysis of the scaling prospects of quantum computing systems based on
CMOS technology.Comment: Comments welcom
Alternative fast quantum logic gates using nonadiabatic Landau-Zener-St\"{u}ckelberg-Majorana transitions
A conventional realization of quantum logic gates and control is based on
resonant Rabi oscillations of the occupation probability of the system. This
approach has certain limitations and complications, like counter-rotating
terms. We study an alternative paradigm for implementing quantum logic gates
based on Landau-Zener-St\"{u}ckelberg-Majorana (LZSM) interferometry with
non-resonant driving and the alternation of adiabatic evolution and
non-adiabatic transitions. Compared to Rabi oscillations, the main differences
are a non-resonant driving frequency and a small number of periods in the
external driving. We explore the dynamics of a multilevel quantum system under
LZSM drives and optimize the parameters for increasing single- and two-qubit
gates speed. We define the parameters of the external driving required for
implementing some specific gates using the adiabatic-impulse model. The LZSM
approach can be applied to a large variety of multi-level quantum systems and
external driving, providing a method for implementing quantum logic gates on
them.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure
A hybrid double-dot in silicon
We report electrical measurements of a single arsenic dopant atom in the
tunnel-barrier of a silicon SET. As well as performing electrical
characterization of the individual dopant, we study series electrical transport
through the dopant and SET. We measure the triple points of this hybrid double
dot, using simulations to support our results, and show that we can tune the
electrostatic coupling between the two sub-systems.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
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