Anomalous Aharonov-Bohm Interference in the Presence of Edge Reconstruction.

Interferometry is a vital tool for studying fundamental features in the quantum Hall effect. For instance, Aharonov-Bohm interference in a quantum Hall interferometer can probe the wave-particle duality of electrons and quasiparticles. Here, we report an unusual Aharonov-Bohm interference of the outermost edge mode in a quantum Hall Fabry-Pérot interferometer, whose Coulomb interactions were suppressed with a grounded drain in the interior bulk of the interferometer. In a descending bulk filling factor from ν_{b}=3 to ν_{b}≈(5/3), the magnetic field periodicity, which corresponded to a single "flux quantum," agreed accurately with the enclosed area of the interferometer. However, in the filling range, ν_{b}≈(5/3) to ν_{b}=1, the field periodicity increased markedly, a priori suggesting a drastic shrinkage of the Aharonov-Bohm area. Moreover, the modulation gate voltage periodicity decreased abruptly at this range. We attribute these unexpected observations to edge reconstruction, leading to area changing with the field and a modified modulation gate-edge capacitance. These reproducible results support future interference experiments with a quantum Hall Fabry-Pérot interferometer.

Melting of Interference in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect: Appearance of Neutral Modes.

We attempted to measure interference of the outer edge mode in the fractional quantum hall regime with an electronic Mach-zehnder interferometer. The visibility of the interferometer wore off as we approached ν_{B}=1 and the transmission of the quantum point contacts (QPCs) of the interferometer simultaneously developed a v=1/3 conductance plateau accompanied by shot noise. The appearance of shot noise on this plateau indicates the appearance of nontopological neutral modes resulting from edge reconstruction. We have confirmed the presence of upstream neutral modes measuring upstream noise emanating from the QPC. The lack of interference throughout the lowest Landau level was correlated with a proliferation of neutral modes.

MilliKelvin microwave impedance microscopy in a dry dilution refrigerator.

Microwave impedance microscopy (MIM) is a near-field imaging technique that has been used to visualize the local conductivity of materials with nanoscale resolution across the GHz regime. In recent years, MIM has shown great promise for the investigation of topological states of matter, correlated electronic states, and emergent phenomena in quantum materials. To explore these low-energy phenomena, many of which are only detectable in the milliKelvin regime, we have developed a novel low-temperature MIM incorporated into a dilution refrigerator. This setup, which consists of a tuning-fork-based atomic force microscope with microwave reflectometry capabilities, is capable of reaching temperatures down to 70 mK during imaging and magnetic fields up to 9 T. To test the performance of this microscope, we demonstrate microwave imaging of the conductivity contrast between graphite and silicon dioxide at cryogenic temperatures and discuss the resolution and noise observed in these results. We extend this methodology to visualize edge conduction in Dirac semi-metal cadmium arsenide in the quantum Hall regime.

Performance evaluation of native plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria for paddy yield enhancement in the jhum fields of Mokokchung, Nagaland, North East India.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the performance of native plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on jhum paddy yield enhancement in Nagaland, Northeast India. Three indigenous PGPR isolates (Bacillus cereus MKGB, Pseudomonas fluorescens MKGPf, and Azospirillum oryzae MKGAz) were tested in the soil microcosm and jhum fields of Longkhum and Ungma villages in Mokokchung, Nagaland. The maximum 78.44% seed germination, 165 cm plant height, 30 leaves, 5 tillers, and 5 panicles per plant were recorded in the PGPR consortium inoculated pot soil. Similarly, maximum 151 grains per panicle, 21.66 g grain yield per plant, and 33.50 g of straw biomass were recorded in the same treatment. The observations from the field trials revealed a maximum of 4.67 t ha-1 paddy yield in the Longkhum village jhum field inoculated with the PGPR consortium which was significantly different from the control (T1) at a p value of ≤0.05%. Similarly 4.74 t ha-1 paddy yield was obtained from the PGPR consortium applied jhum plots in Ungma village. The PGPR consortium was found more effective and promising than the single culture inoculation in paddy yield enhancement. The study suggests the application of tested PGPR consortium in jhum fields for soil health and crop productivity improvement and achieving agricultural sustainability as well as social prosperity in the rural areas of North East India.

Solid-State Electron Transport via the Protein Azurin is Temperature-Independent Down to 4 K.

Solid-state electronic transport (ETp) via the electron-transfer copper protein azurin (Az) was measured in Au/Az/Au junction configurations down to 4 K, the lowest temperature for solid-state protein-based junctions. Not only does lowering the temperature help when observing fine features of electronic transport, but it also limits possible electron transport mechanisms. Practically, wire-bonded devices-on-chip, carrying Az-based microscopic junctions, were measured in liquid He, minimizing temperature gradients across the samples. Much smaller junctions, in conducting-probe atomic force microscopy measurements, served, between room temperature and the protein's denaturation temperature (∼323 K), to check that conductance behavior is independent of device configuration or contact nature and thus is a property of the protein itself. Temperature-independent currents were observed from ∼320 to 4 K. The experimental results were fitted to a single-level Landauer model to extract effective energy barrier and electrode-molecule coupling strength values and to compare data sets. Our results strongly support that quantum tunneling, rather than hopping, dominates ETp via Az.

Graphene oxide-ferrite hybrid framework as enhanced broadband absorption in gigahertz frequencies.

The present investigation is focused on the in-situ synthesis of Graphene oxide (GO)-ferrite nanoparticle hybrid framework by gel-combustion method followed by fabrication of homogeneous, structurally stable thin (~100-120 µm) hybrid-polyurethane coating on a metallic aluminum substrate and its application on the properties of broadband absorption over the microwave frequency region. Microstructure studies of hybrid materials illustrated that small sized ferrite nanoparticles (~17 nm) are grafted on and through the graphene layers, which forms a homogeneous coating thereby. The hybrid-nanocomposite coating demonstrated superior broadband absorption properties with absorptivity higher than 90% throughout a bandwidth of ~6 GHz, and moreover, it was found that with increased loading of GO in the nanocomposite, the bandwidth range of absorption frequency increases with enhanced absorptivity. The real part and imaginary part of the surface impedance values of the coating was obtained as 377 Ω and 0 Ω, respectively, which imply that the free-space impedance of the hybrid-nanocomposite coating is matching correctly. The nanocomposite coating showed ultra-high absorptivity over the frequency band of 8-12 GHz, which has numerous practical applications as radar absorbing materials (RAM), stealth technology, electromagnetic shielding, and radiated electromagnetic interference (EMI) management in onboard spacecraft and many more.