Strong Coupling of Microwave Photons to Antiferromagnetic Fluctuations in an Organic Magnet.

Coupling between a crystal of di(phenyl)-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)iminoazanium radicals and a superconducting microwave resonator is investigated in a circuit quantum electrodynamics (circuit QED) architecture. The crystal exhibits paramagnetic behavior above 4 K, with antiferromagnetic correlations appearing below this temperature, and we demonstrate strong coupling at base temperature. The magnetic resonance acquires a field angle dependence as the crystal is cooled down, indicating anisotropy of the exchange interactions. These results show that multispin modes in organic crystals are suitable for circuit QED, offering a platform for their coherent manipulation. They also utilize the circuit QED architecture as a way to probe spin correlations at low temperature.

A high quality factor carbon nanotube mechanical resonator at 39 GHz.

We measure the mechanical resonances of an as-grown suspended carbon nanotube, detected via electrical mixing in the device. A sequence of modes extending to 39 GHz is observed with a quality factor of 35,000 in the highest mode. This unprecedentedly high combination corresponds to a thermal excited state probability below 10(-8) and a relaxation time of 140 ns with microsecond relaxation times for lower modes. The effect of electron tunneling on the mechanical resonance is found to depend on frequency as the tunneling time becomes comparable to the vibration period.

Increased Antimicrobial and Multidrug Resistance Downstream of Wastewater Treatment Plants in an Urban Watershed.

Development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and multidrug resistance (MDR) through propagation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) in various environments is a global emerging public health concern. The role of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as hot spots for the dissemination of AMR and MDR has been widely pointed out by the scientific community. In this study, we collected surface water samples from sites upstream and downstream of two WWTP discharge points in an urban watershed in the Bryan-College Station (BCS), Texas area, over a period of nine months. E. coli isolates were tested for resistance to ampicillin, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, cephalothin, cefoperazone, gentamycin, and imipenem using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Antimicrobial resistant heterotrophic bacteria were cultured on R2A media amended with ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, and sulfamethoxazole for analyzing heterotrophic bacteria capable of growth on antibiotic-containing media. In addition, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method was used to measure eight ARG - tetA, tetW, aacA, ampC, mecA, ermA, blaTEM, and intI1 in the surface water collected at each time point. Significant associations (p < 0.05) were observed between the locations of sampling sites relative to WWTP discharge points and the rate of E. coli isolate resistance to tetracycline, ampicillin, cefoperazone, ciprofloxacin, and sulfamethoxazole together with an increased rate of isolate MDR. The abundance of antibiotic-resistant heterotrophs was significantly greater (p < 0.05) downstream of WWTPs compared to upstream locations for all tested antibiotics. Consistent with the results from the culture-based methods, the concentrations of all ARG were substantially higher in the downstream sites compared to the upstream sites, particularly in the site immediately downstream of the WWTP effluent discharges (except mecA). In addition, the Class I integron (intI1) genes were detected in high amounts at all sites and all sampling points, and were about ∼20 times higher in the downstream sites (2.5 × 107 copies/100 mL surface water) compared to the upstream sites (1.2 × 106 copies/100 mL surface water). Results suggest that the treated WWTP effluent discharges into surface waters can potentially contribute to the occurrence and prevalence of AMR in urban watersheds. In addition to detecting increased ARG in the downstream sites by qPCR, findings from this study also report an increase in viable AMR (HPC) and MDR (E. coli) in these sites. This data will benefit establishment of improved environmental regulations and practices to help manage AMR/MDR and ARG discharges into the environment, and to develop mitigation strategies and effective treatment of wastewater.

Valley-spin blockade and spin resonance in carbon nanotubes.

The manipulation and readout of spin qubits in quantum dots have been successfully achieved using Pauli blockade, which forbids transitions between spin-triplet and spin-singlet states. Compared with spin qubits realized in III-V materials, group IV materials such as silicon and carbon are attractive for this application because of their low decoherence rates (nuclei with zero spins). However, valley degeneracies in the electronic band structure of these materials combined with Coulomb interactions reduce the energy difference between the blocked and unblocked states, significantly weakening the selection rules for Pauli blockade. Recent demonstrations of spin qubits in silicon devices have required strain and spatial confinement to lift the valley degeneracy. In carbon nanotubes, Pauli blockade can be observed by lifting valley degeneracy through disorder, but this makes the confinement potential difficult to control. To achieve Pauli blockade in low-disorder nanotubes, quantum dots have to be made ultrasmall, which is incompatible with conventional fabrication methods. Here, we exploit the bandgap of low-disorder nanotubes to demonstrate robust Pauli blockade based on both valley and spin selection rules. We use a novel stamping technique to create a bent nanotube, in which single-electron spin resonance is detected using the blockade. Our results indicate the feasibility of valley-spin qubits in carbon nanotubes.