Ultrahigh density well-registered oxide nanocapacitors are very essential for large scale integrated microelectronic devices. We report the fabrication of well-ordered multiferroic BiFeO3 nanocapacitor arrays by a combination of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method and anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template method. The capacitor cells consist of BiFeO3/SrRuO3 (BFO/SRO) heterostructural nanodots on conductive Nb-doped SrTiO3 (Nb-STO) substrates with a lateral size of ~60 nm. These capacitors also show reversible polarization domain structures, and well-established piezoresponse hysteresis loops. Moreover, apparent current-rectification and resistive switching behaviors were identified in these nanocapacitor cells using conductive-AFM technique, which are attributed to the polarization modulated p-n junctions. These make it possible to utilize these nanocapacitors in high-density (>100 Gbit/inch2) nonvolatile memories and other oxide nanoelectronic devices.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs composed of 18-25 nucleotides that regulate the expression of approximately 30% of human protein coding genes. Dysregulation of miRNAs plays a pivotal role in the initiation and progression of malignancies. Our study has shown that microRNA-34a (miR-34a) was upregulated in human endometrial cancer stem cells (ECSCs). However, it is unknown how miR-34a regulates endometrial cancer itself. Here, we report that miR-34a directly and functionally targeted Notch1. MiR-34a inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion, EMT-associated phenotypes by downregulating Notch1 in endometrial cancer cells. Overexpression of miR-34a also suppressed tumor growth in nude mice. Importantly, further results suggested miR-34a was significantly downregulated in endometrial cancer tissues and negatively correlated with Notch1 expression. There was a significant association between decreased miR-34a expression and worse patient prognosis. Taken together, our results suggest that miR-34a plays tumor-suppressive roles in endometrial cancer through downregulating Notch1. Thus miR-34a could be a potential therapeutic target for prevention and treatment of endometrial cancer.

In this work, we demonstrate a silver catalyzed heteroepitaxial growth of gallium phosphide nanowires (GaP NWs) on silicon. The morphology and growth direction of GaP NWs on differently orientated Si substrates were investigated. From crystallographic analysis, we inferred that Ag from catalyst is incorporated into the GaP during the chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) process. Using the PL spectrum and time-resolved emission spectroscopy, the optical properties of Ag-catalyzed GaP NWs were greatly modified, with bandgap transitions in the blue range. The Raman characterizations further confirmed the Ag incorporation into GaP during the growth. From the bandgap calculations, it was deduced that Ag was substituted on the Ga site with bandgap broadening. The in situ Ag-alloying during the growth of Ag-catalyzed GaP NWs greatly modified the band structure of GaP, and could lead to further applications in optoelectronics for low-dimensional GaP-based nanomaterials.

Ferroelectric resistive switching (RS), manifested as a switchable ferroelectric diode effect, was observed in well-ordered and high-density nanocapacitor arrays based on continuous BiFeO3 (BFO) ultrathin films and isolated Pt nanonelectrodes. The thickness of BFO films and the lateral dimension of Pt electrodes were aggressively scaled down to <10 nm and ∼60 nm, respectively, representing an ultrahigh ferroelectric memory density of ∼100 Gbit/inch(2). Moreover, the RS behavior in those nanocapacitors showed a large ON/OFF ratio (above 10(3)) and a long retention time of over 6,000 s. Our results not only demonstrate for the first time that the switchable ferroelectric diode effect could be realized in BFO films down to <10 nm in thickness, but also suggest the great potentials of those nanocapacitors for applications in high-density data storage.

Developing novel luminescent materials with ideal properties is an endless project, urged by growing requirements of advances in energy saving, healthy lighting and environmental friendliness. Herein, a series of ScCaOBO3:Ce3+,Mn2+...