Electrical detection of spin precession in a metallic mesoscopic spin valve

To study and control the behaviour of the spins of electrons that are moving through a metal or semiconductor is an outstanding challenge in the field of 'spintronics', where possibilities for new electronic applications based on the spin degree of freedom are currently being explored. Recently, electrical control of spin coherence and coherent spin precession during transport was studied by optical techniques in semiconductors. Here we report controlled spin precession of electrically injected and detected electrons in a diffusive metallic conductor, using tunnel barriers in combination with metallic ferromagnetic electrodes as spin injector and detector. The output voltage of our device is sensitive to the spin degree of freedom only, and its sign can be switched from positive to negative, depending on the relative magnetization of the ferromagnetic electrodes. We show that the spin direction can be controlled by inducing a coherent spin precession caused by an applied perpendicular magnetic field. By inducing an average precession angle of 180 degrees, we are able to reverse the sign of the output voltage.     

Bipolar supercurrent in graphene

Graphene--a recently discovered form of graphite only one atomic layer thick--constitutes a new model system in condensed matter physics, because it is the first material in which charge carriers behave as massless chiral relativistic particles. The anomalous quantization of the Hall conductance, which is now understood theoretically, is one of the experimental signatures of the peculiar transport properties of relativistic electrons in graphene. Other unusual phenomena, like the finite conductivity of order 4e(2)/h (where e is the electron charge and h is Planck's constant) at the charge neutrality (or Dirac) point, have come as a surprise and remain to be explained. Here we experimentally study the Josephson effect in mesoscopic junctions consisting of a graphene layer contacted by two closely spaced superconducting electrodes. The charge density in the graphene layer can be controlled by means of a gate electrode. We observe a supercurrent that, depending on the gate voltage, is carried by either electrons in the conduction band or by holes in the valence band. More importantly, we find that not only the normal state conductance of graphene is finite, but also a finite supercurrent can flow at zero charge density. Our observations shed light on the special role of time reversal symmetry in graphene, and demonstrate phase coherent electronic transport at the Dirac point.     

抗氧化剂抑制内皮细胞表面的白细胞粘附不依赖其抗氧化活性

氧张力是炎症反应、再灌注损伤和动脉粥样硬化形成的致病因素。这些病变的共同点是内皮细胞表面的白细胞粘附增加。我们用几种抗氧化剂：ＤＣＩ,Ｃｈｒｙｓｉｎ,ＰＤＴＣ和Ｐｒｏｂｕｃｏｌ在流动条件下（切变力在０６～２４ｄｙｎ／ｃｍ２）实验其对内皮细胞表面白细胞粘附的影响,用化学发光法分析这几种抗氧化剂的抗氧化活性。结果显示：ＰＤＴＣ和Ｐｒｏｂｕｃｏｌ对外周血有核细胞氧自由基的产生没有抑制作用,Ｃｈｒｙｓｉｎ可轻度抑制,ＤＣＩ可明显抑制活性氧的产生。相反,ＰＤＴＣ（最大半抑制量８×１０－４ｍｏｌ和Ｃｈｒｙｓｉｎ最大半抑制量５×１０－５ｍｏｌ）可抑制细胞对经ＴＮＦα刺激的人脐带静脉内皮细胞（ＨＵＶＥＣ）的粘附。ＤＣＩ和Ｐｒｏｂｕｃｏｌ对各种切变力范围的细胞粘附无作用。抗氧化剂对内皮细胞表面的白细胞粘附的抑制作用不能单用其抗氧性特性来解释。可能的作用机理是这类物质直接作用转录因子ＮＦ－ｋＢ的结果