资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Strain engineering is a powerful tool with which to enhance semiconductor device performance(1,2). Halide perovskites have shown great promise in device applications owing to their remarkable electronic and optoelectronic properties(3-5). Although applying strain to halide perovskites has been frequently attempted, including using hydrostatic pressurization(6-8), electrostriction(9), annealing(10-12), van der Waals force(13), thermal expansion mismatch(14), and heat-induced substrate phase transition(15), the controllable and device-compatible strain engineering of halide perovskites by chemical epitaxy remains a challenge, owing to the absence of suitable lattice-mismatched epitaxial substrates. Here we report the strained epitaxial growth of halide perovskite single-crystal thin films on lattice-mismatched halide perovskite substrates. We investigated strain engineering of a-formamidinium lead iodide (alpha-FAPbI(3)) using both experimental techniques and theoretical calculations. By tailoring the substrate composition-and therefore its lattice parameter-a compressive strain as high as 2.4 per cent is applied to the epitaxial alpha-FAPbI(3) thin film. We demonstrate that this strain effectively changes the crystal structure, reduces the bandgap and increases the hole mobility of alpha-FAPbI(3). Strained epitaxy is also shown to have a substantial stabilization effect on the alpha-FAPbI(3) phase owing to the synergistic effects of epitaxial stabilization and strain neutralization. As an example, strain engineering is applied to enhance the performance of an alpha-FAPbI(3)-based photodetector.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS1. Astrocytes contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis(2), but little is known about the heterogeneity of astrocytes and its regulation. Here we report the analysis of astrocytes in multiple sclerosis and its preclinical model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by single-cell RNA sequencing in combination with cell-specific Ribotag RNA profiling, assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing (ATAC-seq), chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq), genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation and in vivo CRISPR-Cas9-based genetic perturbations. We identified astrocytes in EAE and multiple sclerosis that were characterized by decreased expression of NRF2 and increased expression of MAFG, which cooperates with MAT2 alpha to promote DNA methylation and represses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory transcriptional programs. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) signalling in astrocytes drives the expression of MAFG and MAT2 alpha and pro-inflammatory transcriptional modules, contributing to CNS pathology in EAE and, potentially, multiple sclerosis. Our results identify candidate therapeutic targets in multiple sclerosis.

Single-cell RNA sequencing of cells from humans with multiple sclerosis and mice with a model of the disease identifies a population of disease-promoting astrocytes in which anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory proteins are suppressed.