Silicon photonic integrated circuits with electrically programmable non-volatile memory functions.

Conventional silicon photonic integrated circuits do not normally possess memory functions, which require on-chip power in order to maintain circuit states in tuned or field-configured switching routes. In this context, we present an electrically programmable add/drop microring resonator with a wavelength shift of 426 pm between the ON/OFF states. Electrical pulses are used to control the choice of the state. Our experimental results show a wavelength shift of 2.8 pm/ms and a light intensity variation of ~0.12 dB/ms for a fixed wavelength in the OFF state. Theoretically, our device can accommodate up to 65 states of multi-level memory functions. Such memory functions can be integrated into wavelength division mutiplexing (WDM) filters and applied to optical routers and computing architectures fulfilling large data downloading demands.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress in bone marrow-derived cells prevents acute cardiac inflammation and injury in response to angiotensin II.

Inflammation plays an important role in hypertensive cardiac injury. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway is involved in the inflammatory response. However, the role of ER stress in elevated angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cardiac injury remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of ER stress in Ang II-induced hypertensive cardiac injury. Transcriptome analysis and quantitative real-time PCR showed that Ang II infusion in mice increased ER stress-related genes expression in the heart. C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) deficiency, a key mediator of ER stress, increased infiltration of inflammatory cells, especially neutrophils, the production of inflammatory cytokines, chemokines in Ang II-infused mouse hearts. CHOP deficiency increased Ang II-induced cardiac fibrotic injury: (1) Masson trichrome staining showed increased fibrotic areas, (2) immunohistochemistry staining showed increased expression of α-smooth muscle actin, transforming growth factor ß1 and (3) quantitative real-time PCR showed increased expression of collagen in CHOP-deficient mouse heart. Bone marrow transplantation experiments indicated that CHOP deficiency in bone marrow cells was responsible for Ang II-induced cardiac fibrotic injury. Moreover, TUNEL staining and flow cytometry revealed that CHOP deficiency decreased neutrophil apoptosis in response to Ang II. Taken together, our study demonstrated that hypertension induced ER stress after Ang II infusion. ER stress in bone marrow-derived cells protected acute cardiac inflammation and injury in response to Ang II.

Fabrication and excitation-power-density-dependent micro-photoluminescence of hexagonal nanopillars with a single InGaAs/GaAs quantum well.

Hexagonal nanopillars with a single InGaAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) were fabricated on a GaAs (111)B substrate by selective-area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. The standard deviations in diameter and height of the nanopillars are about 2% and 5%, respectively. Zincblende structure and rotation twins were identified in both the GaAs and the InGaAs layers by electron diffraction. The excitation-power-density-dependent micro-photoluminescence (µ-PL) of the nanopillars was measured at 4.2, 50, 100 and 150 K. It was shown that, with increasing excitation power density, the µ-PL peak's positions shift to a higher energy, and their intensity and width increase, which were rationalized using a model that includes the effects of piezoelectricity, photon-screening and band-filling. It was also revealed that the rotation twins significantly reduce the diffusion length of the carriers in the nanopillars, compared to that in the regular semiconductors.