Filling the Light Pipe Richardson, David J.
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
10/2010, Letnik:
330, Številka:
6002
Journal Article
Recenzirano
As data transmission rates continue to increase, optoelectronic engineers are developing techniques to deal with the approaching “capacity crunch.”
It has been a landmark year for the field of ...optical telecommunications, with the award of the 2009 Nobel Prize to Charles Kao for his insight in the mid-1960s that the future of communications lay in single-mode silica-based optical fibers (
1
) as well as the 50th anniversary of the first demonstration of the laser—both key technologies responsible for the development of the global-scale communications networks of today (
2
). Recently, however, a growing realization has emerged within the telecommunications industry that the end of the phenomenal growth in optical fiber communication capacity is within sight. At this year's Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC 2010), several groups reported results within a factor of ∼2 of the ultimate capacity limits of existing optical fiber technology. Without radical innovation in our physical network infrastructure—that is, improvements in the key physical properties of transmission fibers and the optical amplifiers that we rely on to transmit data over long distances—we face what has been widely referred to as a “capacity crunch” that could severely constrain future Internet growth, as well as having social and political ramifications.
Machine Learning (ML) is one of the most exciting and dynamic areas of modern research and application. The purpose of this review is to provide an introduction to the core concepts and tools of ...machine learning in a manner easily understood and intuitive to physicists. The review begins by covering fundamental concepts in ML and modern statistics such as the bias–variance tradeoff, overfitting, regularization, generalization, and gradient descent before moving on to more advanced topics in both supervised and unsupervised learning. Topics covered in the review include ensemble models, deep learning and neural networks, clustering and data visualization, energy-based models (including MaxEnt models and Restricted Boltzmann Machines), and variational methods. Throughout, we emphasize the many natural connections between ML and statistical physics. A notable aspect of the review is the use of Python Jupyter notebooks to introduce modern ML/statistical packages to readers using physics-inspired datasets (the Ising Model and Monte-Carlo simulations of supersymmetric decays of proton–proton collisions). We conclude with an extended outlook discussing possible uses of machine learning for furthering our understanding of the physical world as well as open problems in ML where physicists may be able to contribute.
A growing number of bacteria are recognized to conduct electrons across their cell envelope, and yet molecular details of the mechanisms supporting this process remain unknown. Here, we report the ...atomic structure of an outer membrane spanning protein complex, MtrAB, that is representative of a protein family known to transport electrons between the interior and exterior environments of phylogenetically and metabolically diverse microorganisms. The structure is revealed as a naturally insulated biomolecular wire possessing a 10-heme cytochrome, MtrA, insulated from the membrane lipidic environment by embedding within a 26 strand β-barrel formed by MtrB. MtrAB forms an intimate connection with an extracellular 10-heme cytochrome, MtrC, which presents its hemes across a large surface area for electrical contact with extracellular redox partners, including transition metals and electrodes.
Display omitted
•The 20 hemes of a 3-component complex are arranged to move electrons across 185 Å•A β-barrel and 10-heme cytochrome form an insulated transmembrane nanowire•An extracellular 10-heme cytochrome has a large surface area for electron exchange•The hemes of both cytochromes are packed with a maximum inter-heme distance of 8 Å
Structural analysis shows how a naturally insulated molecular “wire” conducts electrons across lipid membranes in bacteria while protecting the membrane from redox damage and facilitating extracellular electron exchange
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful atmospheric greenhouse gas and cause of ozone layer depletion. Global emissions continue to rise. More than two-thirds of these emissions arise from bacterial and ...fungal denitrification and nitrification processes in soils, largely as a result of the application of nitrogenous fertilizers. This article summarizes the outcomes of an interdisciplinary meeting, ‘Nitrous oxide (N2O) the forgotten greenhouse gas’, held at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, from 23 to 24 May 2011. It provides an introduction and background to the nature of the problem, and summarizes the conclusions reached regarding the biological sources and sinks of N2O in oceans, soils and wastewaters, and discusses the genetic regulation and molecular details of the enzymes responsible. Techniques for providing global and local N2O budgets are discussed. The findings of the meeting are drawn together in a review of strategies for mitigating N2O emissions, under three headings, namely: (i) managing soil chemistry and microbiology, (ii) engineering crop plants to fix nitrogen, and (iii) sustainable agricultural intensification.
Many subsurface microorganisms couple their metabolism to the reduction or oxidation of extracellular substrates. For example, anaerobic mineral-respiring bacteria can use external metal oxides as ...terminal electron acceptors during respiration. Porin–cytochrome complexes facilitate the movement of electrons generated through intracellular catabolic processes across the bacterial outer membrane to these terminal electron acceptors. In the mineral-reducing model bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, this complex is composed of two decaheme cytochromes (MtrA and MtrC) and an outer-membrane β-barrel (MtrB). However, the structures and mechanisms by which porin–cytochrome complexes transfer electrons are unknown. Here, we used small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to study the molecular structure of the transmembrane complexes MtrAB and MtrCAB. Ab initio modeling of the scattering data yielded a molecular envelope with dimensions of ∼105 × 60 × 35 Å for MtrAB and ∼170 × 60 × 45 Å for MtrCAB. The shapes of these molecular envelopes suggested that MtrC interacts with the surface of MtrAB, extending ∼70 Å from the membrane surface and allowing the terminal hemes to interact with both MtrAB and an extracellular acceptor. The data also reveal that MtrA fully extends through the length of MtrB, with ∼30 Å being exposed into the periplasm. Proteoliposome models containing membrane-associated MtrCAB and internalized small tetraheme cytochrome (STC) indicate that MtrCAB could reduce Fe(III) citrate with STC as an electron donor, disclosing a direct interaction between MtrCAB and STC. Taken together, both structural and proteoliposome experiments support porin–cytochrome–mediated electron transfer via periplasmic cytochromes such as STC.
We present a simple and practical strategy that allows to design high-efficiency grating couplers. The technique is based on the simultaneous apodization of two structural parameters: the grating ...period and the fill-factor, along with the optimization of the grating coupler etching depth. Considering a 260 nm Si-thick Silicon-on-insulator platform, we numerically demonstrated a coupling efficiency of -0.8 dB (83%), well matching the experimental value of -0.9 dB (81%). Thanks to the optimized design, these results represent the best performance ever reported in the literature for SOI structures without the use of any back-reflector.
We report on the generation of an optical comb of highly uniform in power frequency lines (variation less than 0.7 dB) using a silicon ring resonator modulator. A characterization involving the ...measurement of the complex transfer function of the ring is presented and five frequency tones with a 10-GHz spacing are produced using a dual-frequency electrical input at 10 and 20 GHz. A comb shape comparison is conducted for different modulator bias voltages, indicating optimum operation at a small forward-bias voltage. A time-domain measurement confirmed that the comb signal was highly coherent, forming 20.3-ps-long pulses.
We systematically study different approaches to introduce high birefringence and high polarization extinction ratio in hollow core antiresonant fibers. Having shown the ineffectiveness of elliptical ...cores to induce large birefringence in hollow core fibers, we focus on designing and optimizing polarization maintaining Hollow Core Nested Antiresonant Nodeless Fibers (HC-NANF). In a first approach, we create and exploit anti-crossings with glass modes at different wavelengths for the two polarizations. We show that suitable low loss high birefringence regions can be obtained by appropriately modifying the thickness of tubes along one direction while leaving the tubes in the orthogonal direction unchanged and in antiresonance. Using this concept, we propose a new birefringent NANF design providing low loss (~40dB/km) and high birefringence (>10
) over a record bandwidth of ~550nm, and discuss how bandwidth can be traded off to further reduce the loss to a few dB/km. Finally, we propose a polarization mode-stripping technique in the birefringent NANF. As a demonstration, we propose a polarizing birefringent NANF design that can achieve orthogonal polarization loss ratios as large as 30dB over the C-band while eliminating any undesirable polarization coupling effect thereby resulting in a single polarization output in a hollow core fiber regardless of the input polarization state.
Nonlinear silicon photonic devices have attracted considerable attention thanks to their ability to show large third-order nonlinear effects at moderate power levels allowing for all-optical signal ...processing functionalities in miniaturized components. Although significant efforts have been made and many nonlinear optical functions have already been demonstrated in this platform, the performance of nonlinear silicon photonic devices remains fundamentally limited at the telecom wavelength region due to the two photon absorption (TPA) and related effects. In this work, we propose an alternative CMOS-compatible platform, based on silicon-rich silicon nitride that can overcome this limitation. By carefully selecting the material deposition parameters, we show that both of the device linear and nonlinear properties can be tuned in order to exhibit the desired behaviour at the selected wavelength region. A rigorous and systematic fabrication and characterization campaign of different material compositions is presented, enabling us to demonstrate TPA-free CMOS-compatible waveguides with low linear loss (~1.5 dB/cm) and enhanced Kerr nonlinear response (Re{γ} = 16 Wm
). Thanks to these properties, our nonlinear waveguides are able to produce a π nonlinear phase shift, paving the way for the development of practical devices for future optical communication applications.
A number of species of Gram-negative bacteria can use insoluble minerals of Fe(III) and Mn(IV) as extracellular respiratory electron acceptors. In some species of Shewanella, deca-heme electron ...transfer proteins lie at the extracellular face of the outer membrane (OM), where they can interact with insoluble substrates. To reduce extracellular substrates, these redox proteins must be charged by the inner membrane/periplasmic electron transfer system. Here, we present a spectro-potentiometric characterization of a trans-OM icosa-heme complex, MtrCAB, and demonstrate its capacity to move electrons across a lipid bilayer after incorporation into proteoliposomes. We also show that a stable MtrAB subcomplex can assemble in the absence of MtrC; an MtrBC subcomplex is not assembled in the absence of MtrA; and MtrA is only associated to the membrane in cells when MtrB is present. We propose a model for the modular organization of the MtrCAB complex in which MtrC is an extracellular element that mediates electron transfer to extracellular substrates and MtrB is a trans-OM spanning β-barrel protein that serves as a sheath, within which MtrA and MtrC exchange electrons. We have identified the MtrAB module in a range of bacterial phyla, suggesting that it is widely used in electron exchange with the extracellular environment.
PDF
