Visible photoluminescence from N-dot ensembles and the linewidth of ultrasmall AlyIn1-yAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum dots

Expression of Cyclin D1 and P16 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the lethal cancers with a high incidence rate in Asia. Many genes including cyclin D1 and p16 play important role in its carcinogenesis. We aimed to analyze the expressions of cyclin D1 and p16 with the various clinicopathological characteristics of ESCC. METHODS We examined 30 biopsy samples of ESCC for cyclin D1 and p16 protein expressions using immunohistochemistry. Immunointensity was classified as no immunostaining (-), weakly immunostaining (+), weak immunostaining (++) and strongly positive immunostaining (+++). RESULTS Out of the 30 cases, positive expression of cyclin D1 was detected in 26 cases (86.7%). The percentage of tumors with invasion to the adventitia (88.2%), lymph node metastasis (87.5%), and tumors which were poorly differentiated (92.9%) were higher in cyclin D1 positive tumors than in the cyclin D1 negative tumors. However no significant association was found between cyclin D1 expression and the different clinicopathological parameters.There were 22 cases of ESCC (73.3 %) which showed negativity for p16. The percentage of tumors with invasion to the adventitia (82.4%) and poorly differentiated tumors (92.9%) were higher in the p16 negative tumors than in the p16 positive tumors. There was significant association between the histological grade and p16 expression (p=0.012). However, there were no significant association with regard to site, size and lymph node status of the tumors and p16 expression. CONCLUSION The study shows that alterations of cyclin D1 and p16 play an important role in ESCC. Loss of p16 expression was associated with poor differentiation.

Electronic States and light absorption in a cylindrical quantum dot having thin falciform cross section

Energy level structure and direct light absorption in a cylindrical quantum dot (CQD), having thin falciform cross section, are studied within the framework of the adiabatic approximation. An analytical expression for the energy spectrum of the particle is obtained. For the one-dimensional "fast" subsystem, an oscillatory dependence of the wave function amplitude on the cross section parameters is revealed. For treatment of the "slow" subsystem, parabolic and modified Pöschl-Teller effective potentials are used. It is shown that the low-energy levels of the spectrum are equidistant. In the strong quantization regime, the absorption coefficient and edge frequencies are calculated. Selection rules for the corresponding quantum transitions are obtained.

Low-temperature scanning system for near- and far-field optical investigations

A combined system for far- and near-field optical spectroscopy consisting of a compact scanning near-field optical microscope and a dedicated spectrometer was realized. The set-up allows the optical investigation of samples at temperatures from 10 to 300 K. The sample positioning range is as large as 5 x 5 x 5 mm3 and the spatial resolution is in the range of 1.5 micro m in the far-field optical microscopy mode at low temperatures. In the scanning near-field optical microscope mode the resolution is defined by the microfabricated cantilever probe, which is placed in the focus of a double-mirror objective. The tip-to-sample distance in the scanning near-field optical microscope is controlled by a beam deflection system in dynamic scanning force microscopy mode. After a description of the apparatus, scanning force topography images of self-assembled InAs quantum dots on a GaAs substrate with a density of less than one dot per square micrometre are shown, followed by the first spectroscopic investigations of such a sample. The presented results demonstrate the potential of the system.

Near-field coherent spectroscopy and microscopy of a quantum dot system

We combined coherent nonlinear optical spectroscopy with nano-electron volt energy resolution and low-temperature near-field microscopy with subwavelength resolution (<lambda/2) to provide direct and local access to the excitonic dipole in a semiconductor nanostructure quantum system. Our technique allows the ability to address, excite, and probe single eigenstates of solid-state quantum systems with spectral and spatial selectivity while simultaneously providing a measurement of all the various time scales of the excitation including state relaxation and decoherence rates. In analogy to scanning tunneling microscopy measurements, we can now map the optical local density of states of a disordered nanostructure. These measurements lay the groundwork for studying and exploiting spatial and temporal coherence in the nanoscopic regime of solid-state systems.

Red-Emitting Semiconductor Quantum Dot Lasers

Visible-stimulated emission in a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) laser structure has been demonstrated. Red-emitting, self-assembled QDs of highly strained InAlAs have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a GaAs substrate. Carriers injected electrically from the doped regions of a separate confinement heterostructure thermalized efficiently into the zero-dimensional QD states, and stimulated emission at approximately 707 nanometers was observed at 77 kelvin with a threshold current of 175 milliamperes for a 60-micrometer by 400-micrometer broad area laser. An external efficiency of approximately 8.5 percent at low temperature and a peak power greater than 200 milliwatts demonstrate the good size distribution and high gain in these high-quality QDs.

Spatially Resolved Visible Luminescence of Self-Assembled Semiconductor Quantum Dots

Ensembles of defect-free InAIAs islands of ultrasmall dimensions embedded in AIGaAs have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Cathodoluminescence was used to directly image the spatial distribution of the quantum dots by mapping their luminescence and to spectrally resolve very sharp peaks from small groups of dots, thus providing experimental verification for the discrete density of states in a zero-dimensional quantum structure. Visible luminescence is produced by different nominal compositions of InxAI(1-x)As-AIyGa(1-y)As.