Transient absorption and photoluminescence are experimentally investigated in the polaronic reference system lithium niobate, LiNbO (LN), with the aim to refine the microscopic model of small polaron ...dynamics in materials with strong electron-phonon coupling. As a unique feature, our study is performed by using two different spectroscopic methods, in crystals with dopants enhancing photorefraction or damage resistance, and over a broad temperature range from 15-400 K. Although being self-consistent for particular experimental conditions, the hitherto used microscopic polaronic models reveal inconsistencies when applied to this larger data set. We show that comprehensive modeling is unlocked by the inclusion of an additional type of polaronic state with the following characteristics: (i) strongly temperature- and dopant-dependent relaxation times, (ii) an absorption feature in the blue-green spectral range, and (iii) a Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts decay shape with a temperature-dependent stretching factor showing a behavior contrary to that of small, strong-coupling polarons. The hypothesis of self-trapped excitons (STEs, i.e. bound electron-hole pairs strongly coupled to Nb and O within a niobium-oxygen octahedron) and their pinning on defects as the microscopic origin of these characteristics is supported by a spectroscopic linkage of photoluminescence at low (15 K) and elevated (300 K) temperatures and explains the long-lifetime components in transient absorption as due to pinned STEs.
Based on a model of coupled processes with differently time-dependent decay kinetics we present a critical review on photoluminescence (PL) and transient absorption (TA) experiments in undoped and Mg ...or Fe-doped LiNbO
, together with a comprehensive interpretation of visible radiative and parallel non-radiative decay processes on timescales ranging from 50 ns up to minutes. Analogies and peculiarities of the kinetics of mobile self-trapped and pinned excitons are investigated and compared with those of hopping polarons in the same system. Exciton hopping with an activation energy of ≈0.18 eV is shown to govern the lifetime and quenching of the short PL component above 100 K. Strong interaction between excitons and dipolar pinning defects explains the exorbitant lifetimes and large depinning energies characterizing delayed TA components in doped LiNbO
, while restricted hopping of the pinned excitons is proposed to play a role in strongly delayed PL in LiNbO
:Mg exhibiting a narrowed emission band due to locally reduced electron-phonon coupling. Atomistic models of pinned excitons are proposed corresponding to charge-compensated dipolar defects predicted by theories of dopant incorporation in LiNbO
and are systematically assigned to absorption bands observed near the UV edge. Excitation in these bands is shown to lead directly to pinned exciton states confirming also the previously proposed two-step exciton-decay scenario in LiNbO
:Fe. Weak intrinsic sub-80 ns luminescence in congruent LiNbO
is explained as an opposite effect of enhanced electron-phonon coupling for excitons pinned on Nb
antisite defects. The comparison of the different observed stretching behaviors in the paradigmatic system LiNbO
provides an intuitive picture of the underlying physical processes. The findings are relevant not only for holographic and non-linear optical applications of LiNbO
but are of general interest also for the treatment of stretched exponential or other time-dependent kinetics in complex condensed systems ranging from nanocrystals and polymers to liquids and biophysical systems.
We describe the curation, annotation methodology, and characteristics of the dataset used in an artificial intelligence challenge for detection and localization of COVID-19 on chest radiographs. The ...chest radiographs were annotated by an international group of radiologists into four mutually exclusive categories, including “typical,” “indeterminate,” and “atypical appearance” for COVID-19, or “negative for pneumonia,” adapted from previously published guidelines, and bounding boxes were placed on airspace opacities. This dataset and respective annotations are available to researchers for academic and noncommercial use.
The K¯N system at threshold is a sensitive testing ground for low energy QCD, especially for the explicit chiral symmetry breaking. Therefore, we have measured the K-series X-rays of kaonic hydrogen ...atoms at the DAΦNE electron–positron collider of Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, and have determined the most precise values of the strong-interaction energy-level shift and width of the 1s atomic state. As X-ray detectors, we used large-area silicon drift detectors having excellent energy and timing resolution, which were developed especially for the SIDDHARTA experiment. The shift and width were determined to be ϵ1s=−283±36(stat)±6(syst) eV and Γ1s=541±89(stat)±22(syst) eV, respectively. The new values will provide vital constraints on the theoretical description of the low-energy K¯N interaction.
Extracellular nucleotides and nucleosides activate signaling pathways that play major roles in the physiology and pathophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract. Ectonucleotidases hydrolyze ...extracellular nucleotides and thus regulate ligand exposure to purinergic receptors. In this study, we investigated the expression, localization and activities of ectonucleotidases using Caco-2 cells, a model of human intestinal epithelial cells. In addition, by studying ATP release and the rates of extracellular ATP (eATP) hydrolysis, we analyzed the contribution of these processes to the regulation of eATP in these cells. Results show that Caco-2 cells regulate the metabolism of eATP and by-products by ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 and -2, a neutral ecto-phosphatase and ecto-5′-nucleotidase. All these ectoenzymes were kinetically characterized using intact cells, and their presence confirmed by denatured and native gels, western blot and cytoimmunofluorescence techniques.
In addition, regulation of eATP was studied by monitoring the dynamic balance between intracellular ATP release and ectoATPase activity. Following mechanical and hypotonic stimuli, Caco-2 cells triggered a strong but transient release of intracellular ATP, with almost no energy cost, leading to a steep increase of eATP concentration, which was later reduced by ectoATPase activity. A data-driven algorithm allowed quantifying and predicting the rates of ATP release and ATP consumption contributing to the dynamic accumulation of ATP at the cell surface.
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•Purinergic signaling regulates several functions in intestinal epithelial cells.•Caco-2 cells release ATP following mechanical and hypotonic stimuli.•Extracellular ATP can be hydrolyzed by ectonucleotidases•Identification of NTPDase1, NTPDase2, 5′NT and an ectophosphatase in Caco-2 cells
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab searches for the charged-lepton flavor violating (CLFV) conversion of a negative muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus, with a distinctive ...signature of a monoenergetic electron of energy slightly below the muon rest mass (104.967 MeV). The Mu2e goal is to improve by four orders of magnitude the search sensitivity with respect to the previous experiments. Any observation of a CLFV signal will be a clear indication of new physics. The Mu2e detector is composed of a tracker, an electromagnetic calorimeter, and an external veto for cosmic rays surrounding the solenoid. The calorimeter plays an important role in providing particle identification capabilities, a fast online trigger filter, a seed for track reconstruction while working in vacuum, in the presence of 1-T axial magnetic field and in a harsh radiation environment. The calorimeter requirements are to provide a large acceptance for 100-MeV electrons and reach at these energies: 1) a time resolution better than 0.5 ns; 2) an energy resolution <10%; and 3) a position resolution of 1 cm. The calorimeter design consists of two disks, each one made of 674-undoped cesium iodine crystals read by two large area arrays of UV-extended silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). We report here the construction and the test of the Module-0 prototype. The Module-0 has been exposed to an electron beam in the energy range around 100 MeV at the Beam Test Facility in Frascati. Preliminary results of timing and energy resolution at normal incidence are shown. A discussion of the technical aspects of the calorimeter engineering is also reported in this paper.
Abstract
In fusion plasma scenario, soft X-rays are important tools to study impurities inside plasma. However state-of-the-art silicon detectors cannot survive for long time to the heavy damages due ...to harsh conditions in tokamaks. GEM detectors are a good alternative thanks to their resilience to radiation damage. In this paper, a GEM detector coupled with new dedicated electronic readout based on GEMINI chip is described. In particular, the detector response has been studied comparing the well established PH method and the ToT method implemented in GEMINI. The results indicate the possibility of using this electronic readout to do soft X-ray spectroscopy measurements in the energy range up to about 10–20 keV.
Abstract
The PADME experiment at LNF-INFN employs positron-on-target-annihilation
to search for new light particles. Crucial parts of the experiment are the charged
particle detectors, composed of ...plastic scintillator bars with light transmitted
by wavelength shifting fibers to silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). The location of
the detector — close to a turbomolecular pump, inside a vacuum tank, and exposed
to 0.5 T magnetic field — has driven the design of custom modular SiPM front-end
and power supply electronics. The design of the system and its performance, confirming
the desired sub-ns resolution on the reconstructed particle flying times, is shown
and discussed.
The Muon g-2 Experiment at Fermilab (E989) will measure the muon magnetic anomaly with unprecedented precision (0.14 ppm), which yields a factor of 4 improvement with respect to the previous ...measurements at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) (E821). To achieve this goal, the relative response of each calorimeter channel must be calibrated and monitored at a level better than <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">10^{-3} </tex-math></inline-formula> in the time window of the muon fill. The calibration system uses a laser source and photodetectors. The data acquisition (DAQ) of the system is designed around two field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based boards and a custom crate bus. The front-end board manages the photodetector operation and signal processing and performs a first-level data concentration task. Up to 12 FPGA boards can be housed in a 6U crate. A readout master controls the boards, implements event-building functionalities, manages the monitoring interface, and facilitates calibration and debugging tasks. A gigabit-ethernet interface is used to transfer data to the on-line farm for storage and further processing. Presently, the system is working at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). In this article, we present the DAQ system design, run control user interface, and system evaluation.
The Mu2e experiment is constructing a calorimeter consisting of 1348 undoped cesium iodide (CsI) crystals in two disks. Each crystal has a dimension of 34 × 34 × 200 mm3 and is readout by a ...large-area silicon photomultipliers array. A series of technical specifications on mechanical and optical parameters was defined according to the calorimeter physics requirements. Preproduction CsI crystals were procured from three firms: Amcrys, Saint-Gobain, and Shanghai Institute of Ceramics. We report the quality assurance on crystal's scintillation properties and their radiation hardness against ionization dose and neutrons. With a fast decay time of about 30 ns and a light output of more than 100 p.e./MeV measured by a bialkali photomultiplier tube, undoped CsI crystals provide a cost-effective solution for Mu2e.
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