Dynamics of an Acoustic Polaron in One-Dimensional Electron-Lattice System

The dynamical behavior of an acoustic polaron in typical non-degenerate conjugated polymer, polydiacetylene, is numerically studied by using Su-Schrieffer-Heeger's model for the one dimensional electron-lattice system. It is confirmed that the velocity of a polaron accelerated by a constant electric field shows a saturation to a velocity close to the sound velocity of the system, and that the width of a moving polaron decreases as a monotonic function of the velocity tending to zero at the saturation velocity. The effective mass of a polaron is estimated to be about one hundred times as heavy as the bare electron mass. Furthermore the linear mode analysis in the presence of a polaron is carried out, leading to the conclusion that there is only one localized mode, i.e. the translational mode. This is confirmed also from the phase shift of extended modes. There is no localized mode corresponding to the amplitude mode in the case of the soliton in polyacetylene. Nevertheless the width of a moving polaron shows small oscillations in time. This is found to be related to the lowest odd symmetry extended mode and to be due to the finite size effect.Comment: 12 pages, latex, 9 figures (postscript figures abailble on request to [email protected]) to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol.65 (1996) No.

Nonlinear optical response in doped conjugated polymers

Exciton effects on conjugated polymers are investigated in soliton lattice states. We use the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with long-range Coulomb interactions. The Hartree-Fock (HF) approximation and the single-excitation configuration- interaction (single-CI) method are used to obtain optical absorption spectra. The third-harmonic generation (THG) at off-resonant frequencies is calculated as functions of the soliton concentration and the chain length of the polymer. The magnitude of the THG at the 10 percent doping increases by the factor about 10^2 from that of the neutral system. This is owing to the accumulation of the oscillator strengths at the lowest exciton with increasing the soliton concentration. The increase by the order two is common for several choices of Coulomb interaction strengths.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with non-periodic dielectric multilayers

We present superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SSPDs) on non-periodic dielectric multilayers, which enable us to design a variety of wavelength dependences of optical absorptance by optimizing the dielectric multilayer. By adopting a robust simulation to optimize the dielectric multilayer, we designed three types of SSPDs with target wavelengths of 500 nm, 800 nm, and telecom range respectively. We fabricated SSPDs based on the optimized designs for 500 and 800 nm, and evaluated the system detection efficiency at various wavelengths. The results obtained confirm that the designed SSPDs with non-periodic dielectric multilayers worked well. This versatile device structure can be effective for multidisciplinary applications in fields such as the life sciences and remote sensing that require high efficiency over a precise spectral range and strong signal rejection at other wavelengths

Co-targeting HGF/cMET Signaling with MEK Inhibitors in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma.

Patients with metastatic uveal melanoma usually die within 1 year of diagnosis, emphasizing an urgent need to develop new treatment strategies. The liver is the most common site of metastasis. Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitors improve survival in V600 BRAF-mutated cutaneous melanoma patients but have limited efficacy in patients with uveal melanoma. Our previous work showed that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signaling elicits resistance to MEK inhibitors in metastatic uveal melanoma. In this study, we demonstrate that expression of two BH3-only family proteins, Bim-EL and Bmf, contributes to HGF-mediated resistance to MEK inhibitors. Targeting HGF/cMET signaling with LY2875358, a neutralizing and internalizing anti-cMET bivalent antibody, and LY2801653, a dual cMET/RON inhibitor, overcomes resistance to trametinib provided by exogenous HGF and by conditioned medium from primary hepatic stellate cells. We further determined that activation of PI3Kα/γ/δ isoforms mediates the resistance to MEK inhibitors by HGF. Combination of LY2801653 with trametinib decreases AKT phosphorylation and promotes proapoptotic PARP cleavage in metastatic uveal melanoma explants. Together, our data support the notion that selectively blocking cMET signaling or PI3K isoforms in metastatic uveal melanoma may break the intrinsic resistance to MEK inhibitors provided by factors from stromal cells in the liver