Differential amplitude modulation of auditory evoked cortical potentials associated with brain state in the freely moving rhesus monkey

We simultaneously recorded auditory evoked potentials (AEP) from the temporal cortex (TCx), the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dPFCx) and the parietal cortex (PCx) in the freely moving rhesus monkey to investigate state-dependent changes of the AEP. AEPs obtained during passive wakefulness, active wakefulness (AW), slow wave sleep and rapid-eye-movement sleep (REM) were compared. Results showed that AEP from all three cerebral areas were modulated by brain states. However, the amplitude of AEP from dPFCx and PCx significantly appeared greater attenuation than that from the TCx during AW and REM. These results indicate that the modulation of brain state on AEP from all three cerebral areas investigated is not uniform, which suggests that different cerebral areas have differential functional contributions during sleep-wake cycle. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Amplitude/frequency of spontaneous mEPSC correlates to the degree of long-term depression in the CA1 region of the hippocampal slice

Prior synaptic or cellular activity influences degree or threshold for subsequent induction of synaptic plasticity, a process known as metaplasticity. Thus, the continual synaptic activity, spontaneous miniature excitatory synaptic current (mEPSC) may correlate to the induction of long-teen depression (LTD). Here, we recorded whole-cell EPSC and mEPSC alternately in the Schaffer-CA1 synapses in brain slice of young rats, and found that this recording configuration affected neither EPSC nor mEPSC. Low frequency stimulation (LFS) induced variable magnitudes of LTD. Remarkably, larger magnitudes of LTD were significantly correlated to smaller amplitude/lower frequency of the basal mEPSC. Furthermore, under the conditions reduced amplitude/frequency of the basal mEPSC by exposure to behavioral stress immediately before slice preparation or low concentration of calcium in bath solution, the magnitudes of LTD were still inversely correlated to mEPSC amplitude/frequency. These new findings suggest that spontaneous mEPSC may reflect functional and/or structural aspects of the synapses, the synaptic history ongoing metaplasticity. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigation of gain recovery for InAs/GaAs quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers by rate equation simulation

The gain recoveries in quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD SOAs) are numerically studied by rate equation simulation. Similar to the optical pump-probe experiment, the injection of double 150 fs optical pulses is used to simulate the gain recovery of a weak continuous signal under different injection levels, inhomogeneous broadenings, detuning wavelengths, and pulse signal energies for the QD SOAs. The obtained gain recoveries are then fitted by a response function with multiple exponential terms to determine the response times. The gain recovery can be described by three exponential terms with the time constants, which can be explained as carrier relaxation from the excited state to the ground state, carrier captured by the excited state from the wetting layer, and the supply of the wetting layer carriers. The fitted lifetimes decrease with the increase of the injection currents under gain unsaturation, slightly decrease with the decrease of inhomogeneous broadening of QDs, and increase with the increase of detuning wavelength between continuous signal and pulse signal and the increase of the pulse energy.

Quantum measurement of a solid-state qubit: A unified quantum master equation approach

Quantum measurement of a solid-state qubit by a mesoscopic detector is of fundamental interest in quantum physics and an essential issue in quantum computing. In this work, by employing a unified quantum master equation approach constructed in our recent publications, we study the measurement-induced relaxation and dephasing of the coupled-quantum-dot states measured by a quantum-point contact. Our treatment pays particular attention on the detailed-balance relation, which is a consequence of properly accounting for the energy exchange between the qubit and detector during the measurement process. As a result, our theory is applicable to measurement at arbitrary voltage and temperature. Both numerical and analytical results for the qubit relaxation and dephasing are carried out, and important features are highlighted in concern with their possible relevance to future experiments.

Quantum master-equation approach to quantum transport through mesoscopic systems

For quantum transport through mesoscopic systems, a quantum master-equation approach is developed in terms of compact expressions for the transport current and the reduced density matrix of the system. The present work is an extension of Gurvitz's approach for quantum transport and quantum measurement, namely, to finite temperature and arbitrary bias voltage. Our derivation starts from a second-order cumulant expansion of the tunneling Hamiltonian; then follows the conditional average over the electrode reservoir states. As a consequence, in the usual weak-tunneling regime, the established formalism is applicable for a wide range of transport problems. The validity of the formalism and its convenience in application are well illustrated by a number of examples.

Exact quantum master equation via the calculus on path integrals

An exact quantum master equation formalism is constructed for the efficient evaluation of quantum non-Markovian dissipation beyond the weak system-bath interaction regime in the presence of time-dependent external field. A novel truncation scheme is further proposed and compared with other approaches to close the resulting hierarchically coupled equations of motion. The interplay between system-bath interaction strength, non-Markovian property, and required level of hierarchy is also demonstrated with the aid of simple spin-boson systems. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Dynamics of spin-dependent tunneling through a semiconductor double-barrier structure

The dynamics of spin-dependent tunneling through a nonmagnetic semiconductor double-barrier structure is studied including the k(3) Dresselhaus spin orbit coupling is solved by the time-dependent Schrodinger equation with a developed method for the finite-difference relaxation. The resonant peak and quasibound level lifetime are determined by the in-plane wave vector and the applied electric field. The buildup time and decay lifetime of resonant probability amplitude are different for the spin-down and spin-up electrons due to the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. Further investigation shows that the steady spin-polarization in both the well and collector regions has been obtained in the time domain. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Calculation of the current noise spectrum in mesoscopic transport: A quantum master equation approach

Based on our recent work on quantum transport [X. Q. Li , Phys. Rev. B 71, 205304 (2005)], we show how an efficient calculation can be performed for the current noise spectrum. Compared to the classical rate equation or the quantum trajectory method, the proposed approach is capable of tackling both the many-body Coulomb interaction and quantum coherence on an equal footing. The practical applications are illustrated by transport through quantum dots. We find that this alternative approach is in a certain sense simpler and more straightforward than the well-known Landauer-Buttiker scattering matrix theory.

Continuous weak measurement and feedback control of a solid-state charge qubit: A physical unravelling of non-Lindblad master equation

Conventional quantum trajectory theory developed in quantum optics is largely based on the physical unravelling of a Lindblad-type master equation, which constitutes the theoretical basis of continuous quantum measurement and feedback control. In this work, in the context of continuous quantum measurement and feedback control of a solid-state charge qubit, we present a physical unravelling scheme of a non-Lindblad-type master equation. Self-consistency and numerical efficiency are well demonstrated. In particular, the control effect is manifested in the detector noise spectrum, and the effect of measurement voltage is discussed.

Quantum master equation scheme of time-dependent density functional theory to time-dependent transport in nanoelectronic devices

In this work a practical scheme is developed for the first-principles study of time-dependent quantum transport. The basic idea is to combine the transport master equation with the well-known time-dependent density functional theory. The key ingredients of this paper include (i) the partitioning-free initial condition and the consideration of the time-dependent bias voltages which base our treatment on the Runge-Gross existence theorem; (ii) the non-Markovian master equation for the reduced (many-body) central system (i.e., the device); and (iii) the construction of Kohn-Sham master equations for the reduced single-particle density matrix, where a number of auxiliary functions are introduced and their equations of motion (EOMs) are established based on the technique of spectral decomposition. As a result, starting with a well-defined initial state, the time-dependent transport current can be calculated simultaneously along with the propagation of the Kohn-Sham master equation and the EOMs of the auxiliary functions.

Rate-equation-based circuit model of high-speed semiconductor lasers

Based oil rare equations of semiconductor laser, a symbolically-defined model for optical transmission system performance evaluation and network characterization in both time- and frequency domains is presented. The steady-state and small-signal characteristics, such as current-photon density curve, current-voltage curve, and input impedance, call be predicted from this model. Two important dynamic characteristics, second-order harmonic distortion and two-tone third-order intermodulation products, are evaluated under different driving conditions. Experiments show that the simulated results agree well with the published data. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A model for scattering due to interface roughness in finite quantum wells

A model for scattering due to interface roughness in finite quantum wells (QWs) is developed within the framework of the Boltzmann transport equation and a simple and explicit expression between mobility limited by interface roughness scattering and barrier height is obtained. The main advantage of our model is that it does not involve complicated wavefunction calculations, and thus it is convenient for predicting the mobility in thin finite QWs. It is found that the mobility limited by interface roughness is one order of amplitude higher than the results derived by assuming an infinite barrier, for finite barrier height QWs where x = 0.3. The mobility first decreases and then flattens out as the barrier confinement increases. The experimental results may be explained with monolayers of asperity height 1-2, and a correlation length of about 33 angstrom. The calculation results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data from AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs QWs.

An ambient proof and wide tuning range LC VCO with automatic amplitude control for tuner applications

This paper represents a LC VCO with AAC (Auto Amplitude Control), in which PMOS FETs are used as active components, and the varactors are directly connected to ground to widen Kvco linear range. The AAC circuitry adds little noise to the VCO and provides it with robust performance over a wide temperature and carrier frequency range. The VCO is fabricated in 50-GHz 0.35-mu m SiGe BiCMOS process. The measurement results show that it has -127.27-dBc/Hz phase noise at 1-MHz offset and a linear gain of 32.4-MHz/V between 990-MHz and 1.14-GHz. The whole circuit draws 6.6-mA current from 5.0-V supply.

Simulation on Gain Recovery of Quantum Dot Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers by Rate Equation

The gain recoveries in quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers are numerically studied by rate equation models. Similar to the optical pump-probe experiment, the injection of double optical pulses is used to simulate the gain recovery of a weak continuous signal for the QD SOAs. The gain recoveries are fitted by a response function with multiple exponential terms. For the pulses duration of 10 ps, the gain recovery can be described by three exponential terms with the time constants, and for the pulse with the width of 150 fs, the gain recovery can be described by two exponential terms, the reason is that the short pulse does not consume lot of carriers.