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Conductive polymers have been investigated as a medium for the transmission of electrical signals in biological tissues, but their capacity to rewire cardiac tissue has not been evaluated. Myocardial tissue is unique in being able to generate an electrical potential at a fixed rate; this potential spreads rapidly among cells to trigger muscle contractions. Tissue injuries result in myocardial fibrosis and subsequent non-uniform conductivity, leading to arrhythmia. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia, associated with disruption of atrial electrical signaling, which can potentially be restored by the epicardial delivery of conductive polymers. In this work, poly-3-amino-4-methoxybenzoic acid, conjugated to gelatin, is fabricated as a membrane (PAMB-G) to support conductive velocities that are close to that of the myocardium. A cross-linked gelatin membrane (Gelatin) is used as a control. The as-fabricated PAMB-G has similar tensile elasticities, determined using the Young's modulus, as contracting myocardium; it can also transmit electrical signals to initiate cardiac cell and tissue excitation. Delivering PAMB-G onto the atrium of a rat AF model shortens AF duration and improves post-AF recovery for the duration of a 28-day-long study. Atrial tissue in the PAMB-G-implanted group has lower impedance, higher conduction velocity, and higher field potential amplitude than that in the Gelatin-implanted group. Therefore, the as-proposed PAMB-G is a suitable medium for restoring proper cardiac electrical signaling in AF hearts.

We experimentally demonstrate a light storage via slow-light four-wave mixing in a solid-state medium with a four-level double lambda scheme. Using slow light based on electromagnetically induced transparency, we obtain a slowed four-wave mixing signal pulse together with the slowed probe pulse. During the propagation of light pulses, the storage and retrieval of both the slowed four-wave mixing pulse and the slowed probe pulse are studied by manipulating the intensities of the control fields.

We present a detailed analysis of stationary light pulses (SLP's) for the case of inhomogeneous broadening in both optical and spin transitions, which is normally found in solid materials with long-lived spin coherence. By solving the Langevin equations of motion for the density matrix elements under the integral over the entire range of the inhomogeneous broadenings, the necessary conditions for creating the SLP in a solid are obtained. Then the decay and diffusion processes that the SLP undergoes are analyzed. The characteristics of such processes are studied based on the analytic solution of the SLP with a slowly varying envelope. The dependence of SLP lifetime on inhomogeneous broadenings of spin and optical transitions, which can be regarded as the laser linewidth in the repump scheme, has been discussed.

We experimentally demonstrate a three-channel all-optical routing based on light storage in a Pr(3+):Y(2)SiO(5) crystal. By switching off the control field under the condition of electromagnetically induced transparency, the optical information of the probe light pulse can be stored in the crystal. When three retrieve control fields are switched on in the release process, the stored optical information from one light channel can be transferred (or distributed) into three different light channels. Also we show that this all-optical routing can be time-delayed. Such a multichannel all-optical routing in solids may have practical applications in quantum information and all-optical network.

Enantioselective recognition of carboxylates has important implications in asymmetric synthesis and drug discovery. We have prepared a novel C2-symmetric receptor 1 from alpha-aminoxy acids in a high overall yield. A series of chiral recognition studies indicate that receptor 1 not only can bind to carboxylate ions tightly but also has a good ability to recognize enantiomers of a broad variety of carboxylic acids in the 1H NMR spectra. Thus, the receptor 1 can be used as a chiral shift reagent for the determination of enantiomeric purities of chiral carboxylic acids by 1H NMR directly and rapidly.

We experimentally study the controllable generation of a beating signal using stored light pulses based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a solid medium. The beating signal relies on an asymmetric procedure of light storage and retrieval. After storing the probe pulse into the spin coherence under the EIT condition, two-color control fields with opposite detunings instead of the initial control field are used to scatter the stored spin coherence. The controllable beating signal is generated due to alternative constructive and destructive interferences in the retrieved signal intensities. The beating of the two-color control fields is mapped into the beating of weak probe fields by using atomic spin coherence. This beating signal will be important in precise atomic spectroscopy and fast quantum limited measurements.

We experimentally study the generation and storage of double slow light pulses in a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal. Under electromagnetically induced transparency, a single signal pulse is stored in the spin coherence of the crystal. By simultaneously switching on two control fields to recall the stored information, the spin coherence is converted into two slow light pulses with distinct frequencies. Furthermore, the storage and controlled retrieval of double slow light pulses are obtained by manipulating the control fields. This study of double slow light pulses may have practical applications in information processing and all-optical networks.

We report the experimental observation of a slow-light information conversion via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a rare-earth-ion-doped solid. Under the EIT-based slow-light regime, by manipulating the spectrum of the control fields, the slowed light pulse is transformed into two different frequency-spatial channels. The pulse shapes and energies in two output channels are further studied. This slow-light information conversion can be used as a controllable frequency-spatial multiplexing of the quantum state of the optical field and will be important in information processing and all-optical networks.

We experimentally demonstrate the slowing and storage of double light pulses in a Pr(3+):Y(2)SiO(5) crystal using a multilevel-tripod scheme. Owing to double dark-state polaritons of the tripod-type system, two signal pulses can be simultaneously slowed. Also, we realize the simultaneous storage (and retrieval) of double light pulses by switching off (and back on) the control field. Slowing and storage of double light pulses in solids may have practical applications in quantum information and quantum networks.

We experimentally demonstrate an enhanced four-wave mixing (FWM) based on atomic coherence in a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal. By employing coherent population return and fractional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage to prepare maximum atomic coherence in the crystal, an efficient FWM signal can be generated. By measuring the generated FWM signal, the time-dependent atomic coherence is monitored. Such an enhanced FWM in solids may have practical applications in nonlinear optics and laser spectroscopy.