Spin dependent transport in organic light-emitting diodes

Electrically Detected Magnetic Resonance (EDMR) was used to study a series of multilayer organic devices based on aluminum (III) 8-hydroxyquinoline. These devices were designed to identify the micoscopic origin of different spin dependent process, i.e. hopping and exciton formation. EDMR is demonstrated to probe molecular orbitals of charge, and thus indirectly explore interfaces, exciton formation, charge accumalation and electric fields in operating organic based devices

SnO2 extended gate field-effect transistor as pH sensor

Extended gate field-effect transistor (EGFET) is a device composed of a conventional ion-sensitive electrode and a MOSFET device, which can be applied to the measurement of ion content in a solution. This structure has a lot of advantages as compared to the Ion- Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (ISFET). In this work, we constructed an EGFET by connecting the sensing structure fabricated with SnO2 to a commercial MOSFET (CD4007UB). From the numerical simulation of site binding model it is possible to determine some of the desirable characteristics of the films. We investigate and compare SnO2 films prepared using both the Sol-gel and the Pechini methods. The aim is an amorphous material for the EGFET. The SnO2 powder was obtained at different calcinating temperatures (200 - 500ºC) and they were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The films were investigated as pH sensors (range 2-11).47848

Gate-Controlled Electron Spin Resonance in a GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructure

The electron spin resonance (ESR) of two-dimensional electrons is investigated in a gated GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. We found that the ESR resonance frequency can be turned by means of a gate voltage. The front and back gates of the heterostructure produce opposite g-factor shift, suggesting that electron g-factor is being electrostatically controlled by shifting the equilibrium position of the electron wave function from one epitaxial layer to another with different g-factors

Screening Breakdown on the Route toward the Metal-Insulator Transition in Modulation Doped Si/SiGe Quantum Wells

Exploiting the spin resonance of two-dimensional (2D) electrons in SiGe/Si quantum wells we determine the carrier-density-dependence of the magnetic susceptibility. Assuming weak interaction we evaluate the density of states at the Fermi level D(E_F), and the screening wave vector, q_TF. Both are constant at higher carrier densities n, as for an ideal 2D carrier gas. For n < 3e11 cm-2, they decrease and extrapolate to zero at n = 7e10 cm-2. Calculating the mobility from q_TF yields good agreement with experimental values justifying the approach. The decrease in D(E_F) is explained by potential fluctuations which lead to tail states that make screening less efficient and - in a positive feedback - cause an increase of the potential fluctuations. Even in our high mobility samples the fluctuations exceed the electron-electron interaction leading to the formation of puddles of mobile carriers with at least 1 micrometer diameter.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Decreased antigen-specific T-cell proliferation by moDC among hepatitis B vaccine non-responders on haemodialysis

Patients with end-stage kidney disease, whether or not on renal replacement therapy, have an impaired immune system. This is clinically manifested by a large percentage of patients unresponsive to the standard vaccination procedure for hepatitis B virus (HBV). In this study, the immune response to HBV vaccination is related to the in vitro function of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDC). We demonstrate that mature moDC from nonresponders to HBV vaccination have a less mature phenotype, compared to responders and healthy volunteers, although this did not affect their allostimulatory capacity. However, proliferation of autologous T cells in the presence of tetanus toxoid and candida antigen was decreased in non-responders. Also, HLA-matched CD4+ hsp65-specific human T-cell clones showed markedly decreased proliferation in the group of non-responders. Our results indicate that impairment of moDC to stimulate antigen-specific T cells provides an explanation for the clinical immunodeficiency of patients with end-stage kidney disease

The prognostic value of health-related quality-of-life data in predicting survival in glioblastoma cancer patients: results from an international randomised phase III EORTC Brain Tumour and Radiation Oncology Groups, and NCIC Clinical Trials Group study

This is one of the few studies that have explored the value of baseline symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in predicting survival in brain cancer patients. Baseline HRQOL scores (from the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the Brain Cancer Module (BN 20)) were examined in 490 newly diagnosed glioblastoma cancer patients for the relationship with overall survival by using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Refined techniques as the bootstrap re-sampling procedure and the computation of C-indexes and R2-coefficients were used to try and validate the model. Classical analysis controlled for major clinical prognostic factors selected cognitive functioning (P=0.0001), global health status (P=0.0055) and social functioning (P<0.0001) as statistically significant prognostic factors of survival. However, several issues question the validity of these findings. C-indexes and R2-coefficients, which are measures of the predictive ability of the models, did not exhibit major improvements when adding selected or all HRQOL scores to clinical factors. While classical techniques lead to positive results, more refined analyses suggest that baseline HRQOL scores add relatively little to clinical factors to predict survival. These results may have implications for future use of HRQOL as a prognostic factor in cancer patients

Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications

Spintronics, or spin electronics, involves the study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. This article reviews the current status of this subject, including both recent advances and well-established results. The primary focus is on the basic physical principles underlying the generation of carrier spin polarization, spin dynamics, and spin-polarized transport in semiconductors and metals. Spin transport differs from charge transport in that spin is a nonconserved quantity in solids due to spin-orbit and hyperfine coupling. The authors discuss in detail spin decoherence mechanisms in metals and semiconductors. Various theories of spin injection and spin-polarized transport are applied to hybrid structures relevant to spin-based devices and fundamental studies of materials properties. Experimental work is reviewed with the emphasis on projected applications, in which external electric and magnetic fields and illumination by light will be used to control spin and charge dynamics to create new functionalities not feasible or ineffective with conventional electronics.Comment: invited review, 36 figures, 900+ references; minor stylistic changes from the published versio