Formation of monodomain polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals using surface acoustic waves.

This work uses surface acoustic waves (SAWs) that are generated by a piezoelectric substrate containing an interdigital transducer (IDT) to which a low voltage of 2 mV was applied at a frequency of 1 kHz to fabricate a polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (PS-BPLC) layer. The PS-BPLC layer has a more uniform optical microscope (OM) image at a voltage of 2 mV than at zero voltage, and its reflective spectrum exhibits a smaller full width at half maximum (FWHM) at the former than at the latter. The uniform OM image and small FWHM reveal that the lattices in the PS-BPLC layer have monodomain structure. The monodomain PS-BPLC layer is formed because the SAWs cause longitudinal and transverse vibrations of the PS-BPLC lattices in the vertical plane along their traveling direction. The proposed method for fabricating the monodomain PS-BPLC layer using the SAWs has potential for the development of reflective optical devices that consume low power during their fabrication.

Circuit quantum electrodynamics with dressed states of a superconducting artificial atom.

A dynamical control of the coupling strengths between dressed states and probe photon states is demonstrated with a transmon-like artificial atom coupled to two closely spaced resonant modes. When the atom is driven with one mode, the atom state and driving photon states form the so-called dressed states. Dressed states with sideband index up to 3 were prepared and probed via the strong coupling to the other resonant mode. Spectroscopy reveals that the coupling strengths are "dressed" and can be modulated by the power and sideband index of the driving. The transmission of the probe tone is modulated by the driving microwave amplitude with a Bessel behavior, displaying multi-photon process associated with the inter-atomic level transitions.

Optical amplification assisted by two-photon processes in a 3-level transmon artificial atom.

We experimentally study interactions between two microwave fields mediated by 3-level transmon artificial atom with two-photon processes. The transmon has good selection rule, preventing one-photon transition, but allowing two-photon transition from ground state(0) to 2nd excited state(2). By pumping a control tone in resonance to the transition between 1st(1) and 2nd excited state(2), we control the one-photon transparency for 0 to 1 transition and two-photon transparency for 0 to 2 transition. The results are explained by the Autler-Townes splitting induced by the control microwave. In addition, two possible microwave amplification processes involving two-photon processes are also studied. The 4-wave mixing scheme increases the transmission by 3% while 2-photon optical pumping produces a 11% narrowband increment. All these phenomena can be operated with control and probe tones in a narrow band.

A novel shaped-controlled fabrication of nanopore and its applications in quantum electronics.

High-intensity (107-108 A m-2) electron beams can be used to fabricate nanoscale pores. This approach enables real-time observation of nanopore drilling and precise control of the diameter of the nanopore. Nevertheless, it is not suitable for tuning the nanopore's sidewall shape. In this study, we demonstrate the use of low-intensity electron beams to fabricate nanopores on a silicon nitride (SiNx) membrane. This technique allows the precise adjustment of the nanopore dimension and the shaping of its three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure. The 3D structures of the nanopore were evaluated by electron tomography, and series of oblique images were used in reconstructing the 3D images of nanopores using a weighted back-projection method. The sidewall shape of the nanopore was observed at different electron-beam conditions, and the formation mechanism was elucidated based on these results. The nanopore fabricated with this technique can be used as a template to develop electronics at the nanoscale based on which a quantum-dot device can be prepared with a simple evaporation process. The measured results show that the device can resolve well-defined electronic states that are characteristic for the behaviors of the quantum-dot device.

Employing graphene acoustoelectric switch by dual surface acoustic wave transducers.

We implement a logic switch by using a graphene acoustoelectric transducer at room temperature. We operate two pairs of inter-digital transducers (IDTs) to launch surface acoustic waves (SAWs) on a LiNbO3 substrate and utilize graphene as a channel material to sustain acoustoelectric current Iae induced by SAWs. By cooperatively tuning the input power on the IDTs, we can manipulate the propagation direction of Iae such that the measured Iae can be deliberately controlled to be positive, negative, or even zero. We define the zero-crossing Iae as [Formula: see text], and then demonstrate that Iae can be switched with a ratio [Formula: see text] at a rate up to few tens kHz. Our device with an accessible operation scheme provides a means to convert incoming acoustic waves modulated by digitized data sequence onto electric signals with frequency band suitable for digital audio modulation. Consequently, it could potentially open a route for developing graphene-based logic devices in large-scale integration electronics.

Anderson Insulators in Self-Assembled Gold Nanoparticles Thin Films: Single Electron Hopping between Charge Puddles Originated from Disorder.

The Anderson insulating states in Au nanoparticle assembly are identified and studied under the application of magnetic fields and gate voltages. When the inter-nanoparticle tunneling resistance is smaller than the quantum resistance, the system showing zero Mott gap can be insulating at very low temperature. In contrast to Mott insulators, Anderson insulators exhibit great negative magnetoresistance, inferring charge delocalization in a strong magnetic field. When probed by the electrodes spaced by ~200 nm, they also exhibit interesting gate-modulated current similar to the multi-dot single electron transistors. These results reveal the formation of charge puddles due to the interplay of disorder and quantum interference at low temperatures.

Identification of Mott insulators and Anderson insulators in self-assembled gold nanoparticles thin films.

How the interparticle tunnelling affects the charge conduction of self-assembled gold nanoparticles is studied by three means: tuning the tunnel barrier width by different molecule modification and by substrate bending, and tuning the barrier height by high-dose electron beam exposure. All approaches indicate that the metal-Mott insulator transition is governed predominantly by the interparticle coupling strength, which can be quantified by the room temperature sheet resistance. The Hubbard gap, following the prediction of quantum fluctuation theory, reduces to zero rapidly as the sheet resistance decreases to the quantum resistance. At very low temperature, the fate of devices near the Mott transition depends on the strength of disorder. The charge conduction is from nearest-neighbour hopping to co-tunnelling between nanoparticles in Mott insulators whereas it is from variable-range hopping through charge puddles in Anderson insulators. When the two-dimensional nanoparticle network is under a unidirectional strain, the interparticle coupling becomes anisotropic so the average sheet resistance is required to describe the charge conduction.

Magnetization and electric transport properties of single-crystal MgB2 nanowires.

High quality single-crystal magnesium diboride (MgB(2)) nanowires with lengths exceeding 10 µm were successfully synthesized by hybrid physical chemical vapor deposition. The magnetization and electrical transport properties of single-crystal MgB(2) nanowires (NWs) were measured. The superconducting transition temperature of the NWs was 37 K, as confirmed by magnetization measurements. The disordered behavior of the nanowires was observed by four-terminal current-voltage characteristic measurements of an individual NW from T = 10 to 300 K. The temperature-dependent resistivity curves for seven NWs collapsed into a universal curve described by the variable range hopping model, showing intrinsic nonmetallic transport properties. This implies that the granular superconducting defect states are critical to the superconductivity of the individual MgB(2) NWs.

Photo-response of a nanopore device with a single embedded ZnO nanoparticle.

The photo-response of a ZnO nanoparticle embedded in a nanopore made on a silicon nitride membrane is investigated. The ZnO nanoparticle is manipulated onto the nanopore and sandwiched between aluminum contact electrodes from both the top and bottom. The asymmetric device structure facilitates current-voltage rectification that enables photovoltaic capacity. Under illumination, the device shows open-circuit voltage as well as short-circuit current. The fill factor is found to increase at low temperatures and reaches 48.6% at 100 K. The nanopore structure and the manipulation technique provide a solid platform for exploring the electrical properties of single nanoparticles.

Exocytosis of a single bovine adrenal chromaffin cell: the electrical and morphological studies.

Exocytosis of a single bovine adrenal chromaffin cell, triggered by histamine stimulation, was investigated via the electric responses detected with single-walled carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors (SWCNT-FET) and the morphological changes acquired by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Secretion of chromogranin A (CgA), stored in the vesicles of a single chromaffin cell, can be monitored in situ by the antibody against CgA (CgA-antibody) functionalized on the SWCNT-FET devices. The SWCNT-FET can further discriminate the amount of released CgA with different levels of histamine stimulations. The AFM morphological studies on a chromaffin cell indicate that the depression structures on the cell surface, caused by the histamine-evoked exocytotic fusion pores, appeared much more frequently than those without histamine stimulation or with the pretreatment of mepyramine before histamine stimulation. The vesicle diameters are about 50 nm calculated from the obtained three-dimensional AFM images. In comparison, the fusion pores of chromaffin cells stimulated by high-K (+) buffer solution were also investigated to have a wider-ranging distribution of vesicle diameters of 60-260 nm. This work demonstrates that the combination of novel techniques, SWCNT-FET and AFM, can provide further insights into the fundamental properties of exocytosis in neuroendocrine cells.

TaSi2 nanowires: A potential field emitter and interconnect.

TaSi2 nanowires have been synthesized on a Si substrate by annealing NiSi2 films at 950 degrees C in an ambient containing Ta vapor. The nanowires could be grown up to 13 microm in length. Field-emission measurements show that the turn-on field is low at 4-4.5 V/microm and the threshold field is down to 6 V/microm with the field enhancement factor as high as 1800. The metallic TaSi2 nanowires exhibit excellent electrical properties with a remarkable high failure current density of 3 x 10(8) A cm(-2). In addition, effects of annealing temperatures and capability of metal silicide mediation layer on the growth of nanowires are addressed. This simple approach promises future applications in nanoelectronics and nano-optoelectronics.