Terahertz tunable optically induced lattice in the magnetized monolayer graphene.

The emergence of monolayer material has opened new avenue for manipulating light beyond the capability of traditional optics. However, controlling the terahertz (THz) wave with magnetized monolayer graphene based on multi-beam interference method is interesting but yet reported. In this article, we report an optically induced lattice with tunability in THz by interfering four plane waves in the magnetized monolayer graphene. We show that the optical properties of the induced optical lattice can be efficiently tuned by varying the optical parameter of the interference beams (i.e., the photon detuning and the Rabi frequency), resulting in both amplitude- and phase-type lattice. Based on Fraunhofer diffraction theory, it is found that the far-field diffraction efficiency is adjustable via varying the probe detuning. Moreover, it is also found that the probe field is diffracted into the high-order direction when the photon detuning is within the triangle-like anti-centrosymmetric region. Such a tunable THz lattice may provide a versatile tool for all-optical switching at the few photons level and paves the way for next generation high-speed wireless communication.

Simultaneous polarization transformation and amplification of multi-petawatt laser pulses in magnetized plasmas.

With increasing laser peak power, the generation and manipulation of high-power laser pulses become a growing challenge for conventional solid-state optics due to their limited damage threshold. As a result, plasma-based optical components that can sustain extremely high fields are attracting increasing interest. Here, we propose a type of plasma waveplate based on magneto-optical birefringence under a transverse magnetic field, which can work under extremely high laser power. Importantly, this waveplate can simultaneously alter the polarization state and boost the peak laser power. It is demonstrated numerically that an initially linearly polarized laser pulse with 5 petawatt peak power can be converted into a circularly polarized pulse with a peak power higher than 10 petawatts by such a waveplate with a centimeter-scale diameter. The energy conversion efficiency of the polarization transformation is about 98%. The necessary waveplate thickness is shown to scale inversely with plasma electron density ne and the square of magnetic field B0, and it is about 1 cm for ne = 3 × 1020 cm-3 and B0 = 100 T. The proposed plasma waveplate and other plasma-based optical components can play a critical role for the effective utilization of multi-petawatt laser systems.

Control of laser light by a plasma immersed in a tunable strong magnetic field.

The interaction between laser light and an underdense plasma immersed in a spatio-temporally tunable magnetic field is studied analytically and numerically. The transversely nonuniform magnetic field can serve as a magnetic channel, which can act on laser propagation in a similar way to the density channel. The envelope equation for laser intensity evolution is derived, which contains the effects of magnetic channel and relativistic self-focusing. Due to the magnetic field applied, the critical laser power for relativistic self-focusing can be significantly reduced. Theory and particle-in-cell simulations show that a weakly relativistic laser pulse can propagate with a nearly constant peak intensity along the magnetic channel for a distance much longer than its Rayleigh length. By setting the magnetic field tunable in both space and time, the simulation further shows that the magnetized plasma can then act as a lens of varying focal length to control the movement of laser focal spot, decoupling the laser group velocity from the light speed c in vacuum.

Ribosomal protein S7 regulates arsenite-induced GADD45α expression by attenuating MDM2-mediated GADD45α ubiquitination and degradation.

The stress-responding protein, GADD45α, plays important roles in cell cycle checkpoint, DNA repair and apoptosis. In our recent study, we demonstrate that GADD45α undergoes a dynamic ubiquitination and degradation in vivo, which process can be blocked by the cytotoxic reagent, arsenite, resulting in GADD45α accumulation to activate JNKs cell death pathway, thereby revealing a novel mechanism for the cellular GADD45α functional regulation. But the factors involved in GADD45α stability modulations are unidentified. Here, we demonstrated that MDM2 was an E3 ubiquitin ligase for GADD45α. One of MDM2-binding partner, ribosomal protein S7, interacted with and stabilized GADD45α through preventing the ubiquitination and degradation of GADD45α mediated by MDM2. This novel function of S7 is unrelated to p53 but seems to depend on S7/MDM2 interaction, for the S7 mutant lacking MDM2-binding ability lost its function to stabilize GADD45α. Further investigations indicated that arsenite treatment enhanced S7-MDM2 interaction, resulting in attenuation of MDM2-dependent GADD45α ubiquitination and degradation, thereby leading to GADD45α-dependent cell death pathway activation. Silencing S7 expression suppressed GADD45α-dependent cytotoxicity induced by arsenite. Our findings thus identify a novel function of S7 in control of GADD45α stabilization under both basal and stress conditions and its significance in mediating arsenite-induced cellular stress.