SQUID-based measuring systems

A program has been developed and initiated at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) for the utilization of SQUID sensors in various application areas. DC SQUID sensors based on Nb-AlO _x -Nb Josephson junctions have been designed and developed inhouse along with associated flux-locked loop (FLL) electronics. A compact low field SQUID magnetometer insertible in a liquid helium storage dewar has also been developed inhouse and is in use. Efforts to build a high field SQUID magnetometer, SQUID-DAC system, are in progress. A planar gradiometric DC SQUID sensor for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) application to be used in relatively unshielded environment has been designed and developed. An easily portable NDE cryostat with a small lift-off distance, to be used in external locations has been designed and tested. The magnetic field produced by a given two-dimensional current density distribution is inverted using the Fourier transform technique.     

Nanoelectromechanical systems

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are nano-to-micrometer scale mechanical resonators coupled to electronic devices of similar dimensions. NEMS show promise for fast, ultrasensitive force microscopy and for deepening our understanding of how classical dynamics arises by approximation to quantum dynamics. This article begins with a survey of NEMS and then describes certain aspects of their classical dynamics. In particular, we show that for weak coupling the action of the electronic device on the mechanical resonator can be effectively that of a thermal bath, this despite the device being a driven, far-from-equilibrium system.     

Anatomy of a polarization switch of a vertical-cavity semiconductor laser

Using a streak camera we have measured the three Stokes polarization parameters during a polarization switch of a vertical-cavity semiconductor laser. The switch occurs along a corkscrew path on the Poincare sphere and takes on average a few nanoseconds; this value agrees with a theoretical treatment based upon the Fokker-Planck equation.     

Discovery of potent and selective covalent inhibitors of JNK

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Highlights? JNK inhibitors have been designed that target a conserved cysteine residue ? JNK-IN-8 is a highly selective JNK inhibitor based on multiple profiling strategies ? Covalent formation is crucial for both high potency and high specificity ? JNK-IN-8 inhibits c-Jun phosphorylation at submicromolar concentrations in cells     

Evidence of a rise in the antiproton-proton total cross section at the CERN intersecting storage rings

We measured the total cross section for $\text{p}$p scattering at $\text{s}\text{= 52.8}\text{GeV}$ at the CERN ISR, using the direct, total-rate method. The result obtained, $\text{σ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>tot</mtext>}}\text{(}\text{p}\text{p}\text{) = 44.70 ± 0.53}\text{mb}$, shows that, in common with σ_tot(pp), this cross section also starts to rise in the ISR energy range. We remeasured the total cross section for pp scattering at the same energy, obtaining σ_tot(pp) = 43.26 ± 0.33 mb, and found for the difference, $\text{Δσ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>tot</mtext>}}\text{= σ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>tot</mtext>}}\text{(}\text{p}\text{p}\text{) ? σ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>tot</mtext>}}\text{(}\text{pp}\text{)}$, a value of 1.44±0.45 mb.