The terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum has been the least utilized owing to inadequacies of available sources. We introduce a compact, widely frequency-tunable, extremely bright source of terahertz radiation: a gas-phase molecular laser based on rotational population inversions optically pumped by a quantum cascade laser. By identifying the essential parameters that determine the suitability of a molecule for a terahertz laser, almost any rotational transition of almost any molecular gas can be made to lase. Nitrous oxide is used to illustrate the broad tunability over 37 lines spanning 0.251 to 0.955 terahertz, each with kilohertz linewidths. Our analysis shows that laser lines spanning more than 1 terahertz with powers greater than 1 milliwatt are possible from many molecular gases pumped by quantum cascade lasers.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aay8683 | DOI Listing |
PLoS Comput Biol
January 2025
Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Efflux pumps that transport antibacterial drugs out of bacterial cells have broad specificity, commonly leading to broad spectrum resistance and limiting treatment strategies for infections. It remains unclear how efflux pumps can maintain this broad spectrum specificity to diverse drug molecules while limiting the efflux of other cytoplasmic content. We have investigated the origins of this broad specificity using theoretical models informed by the experimentally determined structural and kinetic properties of efflux pumps.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiology (Basel)
January 2025
School of Instrumentation Science and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
Neural oscillations observed during semantic processing embody the function of brain language processing. Precise parameterization of the differences in these oscillations across various semantics from a time-frequency perspective is pivotal for elucidating the mechanisms of brain language processing. The superlet transform and cluster depth test were used to compute the time-frequency representation of oscillatory difference (ODTFR) between neural activities recorded by optically pumped magnetometer-based magnetoencephalography (OPM-MEG) during processing congruent and incongruent Chinese semantics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNatl Sci Rev
February 2025
Institute of Nanoscience and Applications, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are solution-processable semiconductor nanocrystals with favorable optoelectronic characteristics, one of which is their multi-excitonic behavior that enables broadband polychromatic light generation and amplification from monodisperse QDs. However, the practicality of this has been limited by the difficulty in achieving spatial separation and patterning of different colors as well as the high pumping intensity required to excite the multi-excitonic states. Here, we have addressed these issues by integrating monodisperse QDs in multi-excitonic states into a specially designed cavity, in which the QDs exhibit an anisotropic polychromatic emission (APE) characteristic that allows for tuning the emission from green to red by shifting the observation direction from perpendicular to lateral.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Mater
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics and Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China.
Over the past decade, semiconducting halide perovskite lasers have emerged as a transformative platform in optoelectronics, owing to unique properties such as high photoluminescence quantum yields, tunable bandgaps, and low-cost fabrication processes. This review systematically examines the advancements in halide perovskite lasers, covering diverse laser architectures, such as whispering gallery mode, Fabry-Pérot, plasmonic, bound states in the continuum (BIC), quantum dot, and polariton lasers. The mechanisms of optical gain, the role of material engineering in optimizing lasing performance, and the challenges associated with continuous-wave (CW) pumping and electrically driven lasing are discussed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Humboldt Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Institute for Light and Matter, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany.
Non-linearities in organic exciton-polariton microcavities represent an attractive platform for quantum devices. However, progress in this area hinges on the development of material platforms for high-performance polariton lasing, scalable and sustainable fabrication, and ultimately strategies for electrical pumping. Here, we show how introducing Schlieren texturing and a rough intra-cavity topography in a liquid crystalline conjugated polymer enables strong in-plane confinement of polaritons and drastic enhancement of the lasing properties.
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