Atom Interferometry with Coherent Enhancement of Bragg Pulse Sequences.

We report here on the realization of light-pulse atom interferometers with large-momentum-transfer atom optics based on a sequence of Bragg transitions. We demonstrate momentum splitting up to 200 photon recoils in an ultracold atom interferometer. We highlight a new mechanism of destructive interference of the losses leading to a sizable efficiency enhancement of the beam splitters. We perform a comprehensive study of parasitic interferometers due to the inherent multiport feature of the quasi-Bragg pulses. Finally, we experimentally verify the phase shift enhancement and characterize the interferometer visibility loss.

[Radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma]. / Radiothérapie des cancers du nasopharynx.

Nasapharyngeal carcinoma is a rare disease. Oftenly, the diagnostic is made for advanced disease. Localized tumors, T1 or T2 NO observed a good prognosis and are locally controlled in more than 90 % of the cases by radiotherapy alone. The standard treatment of locally advanced disease is combined chemoradiation. A special vigilance of fast decrease of the volume of the pathological lymph nodes, sometimes associated to loss of weight might indicate an adaptive dosimetric revision. The treatment of recurrent disease is of great importance. Surgical indications are limited but should be discussed in multidisciplinary tumor board when possible. Surgical nodal sampling has to be proposed for nodal recurrence as well as reirradiation, which could be indicated according to the technical issues.

Electronic structure near cationic defects in magnetite.

We used the DFT + U method to describe the modification of the physical properties induced by cationic point defects in cubic magnetite Fe3O4. We considered the case of Fe vacancies and interstitial atoms in non-stoichiometric magnetite, and of Frenkel defects in a stoichiometric crystal. For each of these defects, we give results on the modification of the magnetic moment of atoms near the defect. We describe the local reorganization of the electric charge which is responsible for changes in the average oxidation degree of Fe atoms. We show that gap states, when they exist, do not destroy the half-metallic character of magnetite. Fe defects, however, change the filling of bands crossing the Fermi level and must be mostly responsible for a decrease in the magnetization.

Spin-polarized electron tunneling in bcc FeCo/MgO/FeCo(001) magnetic tunnel junctions.

In combining spin- and symmetry-resolved photoemission, magnetotransport measurements and ab initio calculations we detangled the electronic states involved in the electronic transport in Fe(1-x)Co(x)(001)/MgO/Fe(1-x)Co(x)(001) magnetic tunnel junctions. Contrary to previous theoretical predictions, we observe a large reduction in TMR (from 530 to 200% at 20 K) for Co content above 25 atomic% as well as anomalies in the conductance curves. We demonstrate that these unexpected behaviors originate from a minority spin state with Δ(1) symmetry that exists below the Fermi level for high Co concentration. Using angle-resolved photoemission, this state is shown to be a two-dimensional state that occurs at both Fe(1-x)Co(x)(001) free surface, and more importantly at the interface with MgO. The combination of this interface state with the peculiar density of empty states due to chemical disorder allows us to describe in details the complex conduction behavior in this system.

In vivo MRI follow-up of murine tumors treated by electrochemotherapy and other electroporation-based treatments.

In vivo cell electropermeabilization can be used alone or in combination with a hydrophilic, nonpermeant cytotoxic drug such as bleomycin (electrochemotherapy) to efficiently treat tumors. We used magnetic resonance imaging to detect rapid structural modifications in tumors treated by electroporation-based methods. Water diffusion coefficient (ADC), transverse relaxation time (T(2)) and tumor volume of fibrosarcomas xenografted on syngenic mice were measured upon 3 groups of 6 treated mice within the 48 hrs following ECT done with a normal (BE) or a high dose of bleomycin (HBE), and after irreversible electroporation (IRE), and in three control groups. As expected, the tumor volume increased in the control groups at 48 hrs (p < 0.05) and the values of ADC and T2 did not varied significantly in the control groups except for ADC decrease and T2 increase observed between 3 hrs and 24 hrs (p < 0.03) in the group that received bleomycin only. Tumor volumes decreased significantly at 24 hrs in the IRE and HBE groups. The mean tumor ADC increased significantly at 24 hrs (117.6%, p < 0.03) in the BE group, probably reflecting apoptosis, while in the HBE group the mean tumor ADC increased earlier, at 10 hrs (119%, p < 0.03) because of the speed of the pseudoapopototic process. In the IRE group, the mean tumor ADC decreased significantly at 1 hrs (p < 0.05) and 3 hrs (p < 0.03), and T(2) decreased (p < 0.03), both probably reflecting cell swelling induced by the vascular lock. Thus ADC and T(2) changes in the treated tumors correlated with previous histological observations on the same tumor models. Noteworthy, ADC allowed the visualization of early and rapid changes in the treated tumors, when tumor volume monitoring was not yet able to detect any effect of the treatments.

Mapping inelastic intensities in diffraction patterns of magnetic samples using the energy spectrum imaging technique.

We present the quantitative measurement of inelastic intensity distributions in diffraction patterns with the aim of studying magnetic materials. The relevant theory based on the mixed dynamic form factor (MDFF) is outlined. Experimentally, the challenge is to obtain sufficient signal for core losses of 3d magnetic materials (in the 700-900eV energy-loss range). We compare two experimental settings in diffraction mode, i.e. the parallel diffraction and the large-angle convergent-beam electron diffraction configurations, and demonstrate the interest of using a spherical aberration corrector. We show how the energy spectrum imaging (ESI) technique can be used to map the inelastic signal in a data cube of scattering angle and energy loss. The magnetic chiral dichroic signal is measured for a magnetite sample and compared with theory.

Electron energy loss spectra near structural defects in TiN and TiC.

In this study, we use first principles multiple scattering calculations on atomic clusters to show how the carbon and nitrogen K-edge fine structures are modified in the vicinity of structural defects in TiN and TiC. Changes in the electron energy loss spectra are due to changes in the atomic structure of the first atomic shells around the absorbing atom. Two different kinds of defects, which both modify the structure of these atomic shells, are investigated here. In a first part, we describe a method which correctly takes into account the statistical spatial distribution of nitrogen vacancies in a TiN cluster. We study the influence of vacancy concentration on the shape of the nitrogen K-edge spectra and we find that vacancies mainly affect the height of the second peak of the spectra. This peak decreases when the number of vacancies in the second nitrogen shell increases. In a second part, we study the carbon K-edge spectrum modification near stacking faults in TiC. Two different stacking faults are studied. These two-dimensional defects are responsible for changes in the position of the carbon as well as titanium atoms of the atomic shells centered on the absorbing carbon atom. The shape of the spectra is strongly modified near the stacking faults and several peaks are affected by these modifications. We show that these fine structure modifications only concern the very first carbon atomic layers near the two-dimensional defects.

First-principles calculation of the electronic structure and energy loss near edge spectra of chiral carbon nanotubes.

We present first principles calculations of the electronic structure of small carbon nanotubes with different chiral angles theta and different diameters (d<1 nm). Results are obtained with a full potential method based on the density functional theory (DFT), with the local density approximation (LDA). We compare the band structure and density of states (DOS) of chiral nanotubes with those of zigzag and armchair tubes with similar diameters. The carbon K-edge energy loss near edge structures (ELNES) have been studied and pi* and sigma* contributions have been evaluated. These contributions give information on the degree of hybridization for the small chiral nanotubes.

Structural and magnetic studies of Co thin films.

The trend in reducing device dimension induces new physical properties and requires the development of measurement tools at the nanometer scale. This paper deals with the relation between magnetism and structure of thin films. We have chosen cobalt as a ferromagnetic layer and chromium as a bcc buffer. Magnetic and structural investigations have been led on epitaxial Co/Cr layers grown on MgO (001) substrates. The thickness of the cobalt layer varies from 0.75 to 20 nm. Investigations on the cobalt layer by EXAFS and HRTEM give evidence for a bcc or a hcp structure depending on the cobalt thickness. Magnetic measurements using SQUID indicate that the saturation magnetisation per volume unit is constant for the layers. EELS experiments have been carried out to measure any evolution in the I(L3)/I(L2) ratio for ferromagnetic layers of different thickness. We discuss the influence of structural and magnetic contributions on the evolution of the ratio with the cobalt thickness.

EELS investigation of FeCo/SiO2 nanocomposites.

The factors that determine the local magnetic properties of FeCo/SiO2 nanocomposite powders and films have been analysed by electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Attention has been given to the chemical composition, the local electronic structure and the atomic arrangement. The results show that the nanoparticles from sol-gel prepared powders are generally Fe-rich, whereas they are Co-rich in sol-gel prepared films. In addition, a subnanometre oxide layer at the surface of the FeCo nanoparticles has been clearly observed in the powder sample. It is found that the magnetic moment should be partly governed by alloying effects. Numerical values of the near-surface magnetic moment have been obtained using the ab-initio layer-KKR method. These values should be helpful in understanding the layer-by-layer changes of the white line ratio close to the surface of the nanoparticles.