Anomalous Hall effect in Nd-doped Bi1.1Sb0.9STe2 topological insulator single crystals.

Topological insulators are emerging materials with insulating bulk and symmetry protected nontrivial surface states. One of the most fascinating transport behaviors in a topological insulator is the quantum anomalous Hall effect, which has been observed in magnetic-topological-insulator-based devices. In this work, we report successful doping of rare-earth element Nd into Bi1.1Sb0.9STe2 bulk-insulating topological insulator single crystals, in which the Nd moments are ferromagnetically ordered at ∼100 K. Benefiting from the in-bulk-gap Fermi level, electronic transport behaviors dominated by the topological surface states are observed in the ferromagnetic region. At low temperatures, strong Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations with a nontrivial Berry phase are observed. The topological insulator with long range magnetic ordering in Nd-doped Bi1.1Sb0.9STe2 single crystals provides a good platform for quantum transport studies and spintronic applications.

The developments of cyan emitting phosphors to fulfill the cyan emission gap of white-LEDs.

Future generations of solid-state lighting (SSL) will prioritize the development of innovative luminescent materials with superior characteristics. The phosphors converted into white light-emitting diodes (white LEDs) often have a blue-green cavity. Cyan-emitting phosphor fills the spectral gap and produces "full-visible-spectrum lighting." Full-visible spectrum lighting is beneficial for several purposes, such as light therapy, plant growth, and promoting an active and healthy lifestyle. The design of cyan garnet-type phosphors, like Ca2LuHf2Al3O12 (CLHAO), has recently been the subject of interest. This review study reports a useful cyan-emitting phosphor based on CLHAO composition with a garnet structure to have a cyan-to-green emitting color with good energy transfer. It could be employed as cyan filler in warm-white LED manufacturing. Due to its stability, ability to dope with various ions suitable for their desired qualities, and ease of synthesis, this garnet-like compound is a great host material for rare-earth ions. The development of CLHAO cyan-emitting phosphors has exceptionally high luminescence, resulting in high CRI and warm-white LEDs, making them a viable desire for LED manufacturing. The development of CLHAO cyan-emitting phosphors with diverse synthesis techniques, along with their properties and applications in white LEDs, are extensively covered in this review paper.

High-mobility spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of EuTiO3/SrTiO3heterostructures.

Spin polarization of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the interface of EuTiO3/SrTiO3(STO) heterostructures has been theoretical predicted and experimentally observed via x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and polarized x-ray absorption spectroscopy, which, however, is lack of magnetotransport evidence. Here, we report the fabrication of high-quality EuTiO3/STO heterostructures by depositing antiferromagnetic insulating EuTiO3thin films onto STO substrates. Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation, Hall, and magnetoresistance (MR) measurements show that the interface is not only highly conducting, with electron mobility up to5.5×103cm2V-1s-1at 1.8 K, but also shows low-field hysteretic MR effects. MR of ∼9% is observed at 1.8 K and 20 Oe, which is one order of magnitude higher than those observed in other spin-polarized 2DEG oxide systems. Moreover, the heterostructures show ferromagnetic hysteresis loops. These results demonstrate that the high-mobility 2DEG is spin polarized, whose origin is attributed to the interfacial Ti3+-3dstates due to oxygen deficiency and the exchange interactions between interfacial Eu spins and itinerant Ti-3delectrons.

Resequencing of global Lotus corniculatus accessions reveals population distribution and genetic loci, associated with cyanogenic glycosides accumulation and growth traits.

BACKGROUND: Lotus corniculatus is a widely distributed perennial legume whose great adaptability to different environments and resistance to barrenness make it an excellent forage and ecological restoration plant. However, its molecular genetics and genomic relationships among populations are yet to be uncovered. RESULT: Here we report on a genomic variation map from worldwide 272 L. corniculatus accessions by genome resequencing. Our analysis suggests that L. corniculatus accessions have high genetic diversity and could be further divided into three subgroups, with the genetic diversity centers were located in Transcaucasia. Several candidate genes and SNP site associated with CNglcs content and growth traits were identified by genome-wide associated study (GWAS). A non-synonymous in LjMTR was responsible for the decreased expression of CNglcs synthesis genes and LjZCD was verified to positively regulate CNglcs synthesis gene CYP79D3. The LjZCB and an SNP in LjZCA promoter were confirmed to be involved in plant growth. CONCLUSION: This study provided a large number of genomic resources and described genetic relationship and population structure among different accessions. Moreover, we attempt to provide insights into the molecular studies and breeding of CNglcs and growth traits in L. corniculatus.

Coexistence of logarithmic and SdH quantum oscillations in ferromagnetic Cr-doped tellurium single crystals.

We report the synthesis of transition-metal-doped ferromagnetic elemental single-crystal semiconductors with quantum oscillations using the physical vapor transport method. The 7.7 atom% Cr-doped Te crystals (Cr:Te) show ferromagnetism, butterfly-like negative magnetoresistance in the low temperature (<3.8 K) and low field (<0.15 T) region, and high Hall mobility, e.g. 1320 cm2V-1s-1at 30 K and 350 cm2V-1s-1at 300 K, implying that Cr:Te crystals are ferromagnetic elemental semiconductors. WhenB// [001] // I, the maximum negative MR is ∼-27% atT= 20 K andB= 8 T. In the low temperature semiconducting region, Cr:Te crystals show strong discrete scale invariance dominated logarithmic quantum oscillations when the direction of the magnetic fieldBis parallel to the [100] crystallographic direction (B// [100]) and show Landau quantization dominated Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations forB// [210] direction, which suggests the broken rotation symmetry of the Fermi pockets in the Cr:Te crystals. The findings of coexistence of multiple quantum oscillations and ferromagnetism in such an elemental quantum material may inspire more study of narrow bandgap semiconductors with ferromagnetism and quantum phenomena.

Correction: Magnetotransport and magnetic properties of Cr-modified Mn2Sb epitaxial thin films.

Correction for 'Magnetotransport and magnetic properties of Cr-modified Mn2Sb epitaxial thin films' by Ting-Wei Chen et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 5785-5794, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP05442F.

Magnetotransport and magnetic properties of Cr-modified Mn2Sb epitaxial thin films.

High-quality Mn2-xCrxSb (x = 0.01, 0.04, and 0.1) epitaxial thin films were grown on SrTiO3 (STO) (001) single-crystal substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Magnetotransport and magnetic measurements reveal that the x = 0.01 sample undergoes a quasi-ferrimagnetic (I) [Q-FIM(I)]-to-ferrimagnetic (II) [FIM(II)] spin reorientation (SR) transition and a giant magnetoresistance (MR) associated first-order ferrimagnetic(II)-to-antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase transition upon cooling, resulting in the AFM ground state with a weak in-plane net moment. Upon increasing the doping level from x = 0.01 to 0.1, both the SR transition and the first-order magnetic transition are suppressed. For x = 0.1, the former transition is suppressed, leaving only the Q-FIM(I)-to-AFM transition within the whole temperature region. TAFM-FIM shows almost similar changes upon the application of either in-plane or out-of-plane magnetic fields. TAFM-FIM values of the x = 0.01 and 0.04 samples are much higher than those of the Mn2-xCrxSb bulk with similar doping levels, which can be understood by the clamping effect from STO substrates. For each thin-film sample, the MR effect is observed near TAFM-FIM and disappears in the high temperature Q-FIM(I) phase and low temperature AFM phase, indicating that MR is related to the spin-dependent electron scattering during the first-order magnetic phase transition. Based on the magnetotransport and magnetic data, a magnetic phase diagram is established for the Mn2-xCrxSb films in the low doping level region.

Colossal Magnetoresistance in Ti Lightly Doped Cr2Se3 Single Crystals with a Layered Structure.

Stoichiometric Cr2Se3 single crystals are particular layer-structured antiferromagnets, which possess a noncollinear spin configuration, weak ferromagnetic moments, moderate magnetoresistance (MR ∼14.3%), and poor metallic conductivity below the antiferromagnetic phase transition. Here, we report an interesting >16 000% colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) effect in Ti (1.5 atomic percent) lightly doped Cr2Se3 single crystals. Such a CMR is approximately 1143 times larger than that of the stoichiometric Cr2Se3 crystals and is rarely observed in layered antiferromagnets and is attributed to the frustrated spin configuration. Moreover, the Ti doping not only dramatically changes the electronic conductivity of the Cr2Se3 crystal from a bad metal to a semiconductor with a gap of ∼15 meV but also induces a change in the magnetic anisotropy of the Cr2Se3 crystal from strong out-of-plane to weak in-plane. Further, magnetotransport measurements reveal that the low-field MR scales with the square of the reduced magnetization, which is a signature of CMR materials. The layered Ti:Cr2Se3 with the CMR effect could be used as two-dimensional (2D) heterostructure building blocks to provide colossal negative MR in spintronic devices.

Nontrivial Giant Linear Magnetoresistance in Nodal-Line Semimetal ZrGeSe 2D Layers.

Linear magnetoresistance (LMR) is usually observed in topological quantum materials and plausibly connected with the topologically nontrivial surface state with Dirac-cone-like linear dispersion because the frequently encountered large Hall resistivity can be trivially mixed into the LMR via charge inhomogeneity. Herein, by applying an optimal gate voltage to nodal-line semimetal ZrGeSe two-dimensional (2D) layers with specific thicknesses, we observe a giant nonsaturated LMR of 8 × 104% at 2 K and a magnetic field of 9 T. This giant LMR is accompanied by a very small Hall resistivity, which is inconsistent with the charge inhomogeneity mechanism. Our systematic results confirm that the giant LMR is maximized when the topological semimetal is in the "even-metal" regime and suppressed upon evolution to the normal "odd-metal" regime. The "even-to-odd" transition is universal regardless of the thicknesses of the crystals. A comparison with Abrikosov's quantum LMR theory indicates that the observed LMR cannot be trivial.

A turn-on homodimer fluorescent probe based on homo-FRET for the sensing of biothiols in lysosome: a trial of a new turn-on strategy.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is often applied to construct fluorescent probes for acquiring high selectivity and sensitivity. According to the FRET theory, a homodimer composed of two identical fluorophores with a small Stokes shift has only weak fluorescence due to homo-FRET between fluorophores, and the fluorescence could be recovered after the destruction of the homodimer. In this study, we designed and synthesized a homodimer fluorescent probe, namely 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-8-(4'-phenylthiophenol)-boron difluoride-dipyrrole methane dimer (D-TMSPB), based on this turn-on strategy. In D-TMSPB, the disulfide moiety was selected as the response moiety of biothiols, and BODIPY fluorophore was chosen as both donor and acceptor in FRET due to the ultra-small Stokes shifts and obvious overlap of its excitation/emission peak. D-TMSPB exhibited only weak fluorescence. After selective reaction with biothiols, FRET was destroyed and the derivative exhibited strong fluorescence at 514 nm with the limit of detection of about 0.15 µM for GSH. Notably, the derivative of biothiols shows remarkable fluorescence only in acidic conditions, which accords with the internal environment of lysosome. Thus, D-TMSPB was applied to image the biothiols of lysosome in living cells. The turn-on fluorescence of D-TMSPB indicated that homo-FRET is a practical strategy to design turn-on fluorescent probes, particularly for the sensing mechanism based on leaving groups.

Heat stress impacts on broiler performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Heat stress (HS) is a major problem in poultry business which affects chickens' performance and may trigger large economic losses. This study intends to analyze the impact of HS on broiler chickens' performance compared with those under normal condition. A literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library for studies published in English up to January 17, 2020. Outcomes of body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and mortality were calculated by weighted difference (WMD) or odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). A total of 12 studies with 470 broiler chickens were included. HS significantly decreased FI (11 trials: WMD = -97.95, 95% CI: -141.70, -54.20) and BWG (7 trials: WMD = -151.40, 95% CI: -198.59, -104.21) and significantly increased FCR (9 trials: WMD = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.29) and mortality (8 trials: OR = 3.74, 95% CI: 1.39, 10.12) compared with the control. In conclusion, HS significantly affected broiler chickens' BWG, FI, FCR, and mortality, indicating the importance to control housing temperature to avoid unnecessary costs.

Magnetotransport and magnetic properties of the layered noncollinear antiferromagnetic Cr2Se3 single crystals.

We report on the growth of high-quality stoichiometric layered Cr2Se3 single crystals with metallic and noncollinear antiferromagnetic ground state using the chemical vapor transport (CVT) method. The crystals show weak ferromagnetism in the in-plane and out-of-plane directions below the Neél temperature (T N), however, the field-cooled out-of-plane magnetization at 500 Oe and 10 K (∼0.24 µ B/f.u.) is approximately 15 times larger than that of the in-plane one, indicating strong c-axis easy uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, which is further supported by the in-plane and out-of-plane isothermal anisotropic magnetic hysteresis loops and the angular dependent magnetoresistance (MR). The latter also reveals a decrease of the coercive field of the crystal upon the tilting of the weak ferromagnetic easy axis away from the direction of the magnetic field. Further, the out-of-plane isothermal MR are negative below T N and show butterfly shapes for T < 10 K and couple with the magnetic hysteresis M(H) loop. These results may help researchers better understand the interplay between the weak ferromagnetism and the magnetotransport properties of 2D itinerant noncollinear antiferromagnetic systems.

Size-controlled synthesis of metal-organic frameworks and their performance as fluorescence sensors.

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are of bright promise as new fluorescence sensors because of their accurate framework structure and unique fluorescence properties. Many MOFs have been reported as fluorescence sensors, including bulk-MOF-crystals and nano-MOF-powder. Obviously, the sensing performance of these MOF sensors should be diverse due to their different sizes. However, bulk-MOF-crystals and nano-MOF-powder have completely different dispersibility in solvents, and the effects of this difference on the analytical performance like precision and sensitivity are significant but have not been discussed systematically. To investigate such effects, rodlike bulk-MOFs and nano-MOFs with the same structure but different sizes are required. In this work, we obtained MOFs with a crystal width ranging from 9.7 µm to 170 nm by controlled synthesis, and then proved that they have the same structure by PXRD, SEM, TGA and FTIR analysis. After that, taking folic acid as the target molecule, fluorescent sensing experiments were carried out to compare the sensing performance between bulk-MOFs and nano-MOFs. From the results, we found that nano-MOFs have obviously better dispersity, a lower precipitation speed, a smaller standard deviation, ten times higher fluorescence intensities and a much lower LOD than bulk-MOFs. Finally, we draw a conclusion that nano-MOFs are more in line with the requirements of analytical performance as fluorescence sensors, and the size of MOFs as fluorescence sensors should be as small as possible.

Magnetotransport properties of square-net compounds of NbSiSb and NbGeSb single crystals.

We successfully grew single crystals of Si- and Ge-square-net compounds of NbSiSb and NbGeSb whose excellent crystalline quality are verified using single-crystal x-ray diffraction θ-2θ scans, rocking curves, scanning and transmission electron microscopies. Since these two compounds share major crystallographic similarity with the topological nodal-line semimetals of ZrSiS family, we employ density functional theory (DFT) calculations and magnetotransport measurements to demonstrate their band structures as well as the electron scattering mechanisms. DFT calculations show that the fermiology displays strong anisotropy from the crystallographic c-axis to the ab-plane and weak anisotropy within the ab plane, which is consistent with the strong anisotropic magnetotransport behaviors. Following the Kohler's scaling rule we prove that similar interband and intraband electron-phonon scattering mechanisms work in both the NbSiSb and NbGeSb compounds. The study of electronic transport mechanism in the presence of external magnetic field renders deep insight into topological behavior together with its Fermi surface, and the high similarity of crystallography and strong difference in band structures between the present single crystals and that of ZrSiS family provides the possibility to tune the band structure via element doping.

Photoflexoelectric effect in halide perovskites.

Harvesting environmental energy to generate electricity is a key scientific and technological endeavour of our time. Photovoltaic conversion and electromechanical transduction are two common energy-harvesting mechanisms based on, respectively, semiconducting junctions and piezoelectric insulators. However, the different material families on which these transduction phenomena are based complicate their integration into single devices. Here we demonstrate that halide perovskites, a family of highly efficient photovoltaic materials1-3, display a photoflexoelectric effect whereby, under a combination of illumination and oscillation driven by a piezoelectric actuator, they generate orders of magnitude higher flexoelectricity than in the dark. We also show that photoflexoelectricity is not exclusive to halides but a general property of semiconductors that potentially enables simultaneous electromechanical and photovoltaic transduction and harvesting in unison from multiple energy inputs.

Mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of Gaojiao chicken (Gallus gallus).

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Gaojiao chicken (Gallus gallus) was sequenced using samples collected from Puding county of Guizhou province, China. The mitogenome of Gaojiao chicken is 16,786 bp in length, and it contained 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and a control region (D-loop), the overall base nucleotide compositions encoded are 30.27% A, 32.52% C, 13.49% G, and 23.72% T. The phylogenetic tree was constructed using neighbor-joining (N-J) method, which indicated that the Gaojiao chicken has the close relationship with Nandan chicken, Daweishan chicken, Wuding chicken, and Guangxi three-buff chicken.

Nonvolatile Control of the Electronic Properties of In2-xCrxO3 Semiconductor Films by Ferroelectric Polarization Charge.

A series of Cr-doped In2-xCrxO3 (ICO) semiconductor thin films were epitaxially grown on (111)-oriented 0.71Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.29PbTiO3 (PMN-0.29PT) single-crystal substrates by the pulsed laser deposition. Upon the application of an electric field to the PMN-0.29PT substrate along the thickness direction, we realized in situ, reversible, and nonvolatile control of the electronic properties and Fermi level of the films, which are manifested by abundant physical phenomena such as the n-type to p-type transformation, metal-semiconductor transition, metal-insulator transition, crossover of the magnetoresistance (MR) from negative to positive, and a large nonvolatile on-and-off ratio of 5.5 × 104% at room temperature. We also strictly disclose that both the sign and the magnitude of MR are determined by the electron carrier density of ICO films, which could modify the s-d exchange interaction and weak localization effect. Our results demonstrate that the ferroelectric gating approach using PMN-PT can be utilized to gain deeper insight into the carrier-density-related electronic properties of In2O3-based semiconductors and provide a simple and energy efficient way to construct multifunctional devices which can utilize the unique properties of composite materials.

A Practical Neighbor Discovery Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks.

Neighbor discovery is a crucial operation frequently executed throughout the life cycle of a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Various protocols have been proposed to minimize the discovery latency or to prolong the lifetime of sensors. However, none of them have addressed that all the critical concerns stemming from real WSNs, including communication collisions, latency constraints and energy consumption limitations. In this paper, we propose Spear, the first practical neighbor discovery framework to meet all these requirements. Spear offers two new methods to reduce communication collisions, thus boosting the discovery rate of existing neighbor discovery protocols. Spear also takes into consideration latency constraints and facilitates timely adjustments in order to reduce the discovery latency. Spear offers two practical energy management methods that evidently prolong the lifetime of sensor nodes. Most importantly, Spear automatically improves the discovery results of existing discovery protocols, on which no modification is required. Beyond reporting details of different Spear modules, we also present experiment evaluations on several notable neighbor discovery protocols. Results show that Spear greatly improves the discovery rate from 33.0% to 99.2%, and prolongs the sensor nodes lifetime up to 6.47 times.

Lanthanide Organic Framework as a Reversible Luminescent Sensor for Sulfamethazine Antibiotics.

A water-stable two-dimensional lanthanide organic framework, {Eu(BTB)DMF} n (Eu-MOF; DMF = N, N-dimethylformamide), with two one-dimensional channels was obtained, and its structure was characterized. With changes in the amount of LiOH·H2O, different sizes of {Eu(BTB)DMF} n were synthesized. The prepared Eu-MOF powder is easy to disperse in water and exhibits typical Eu red emission. The fluorescence properties showed that Eu-MOF can detect sulfamethzine (SMZ) with high sensitivity and selectivity. Finally, the as-synthesized Eu-MOF was successfully used for the detection of SMZ in surface water by a standard addition method.

Nonvolatile and Reversible Ferroelectric Control of Electronic Properties of Bi2Te3 Topological Insulator Thin Films Grown on Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 Single Crystals.

Single-phase (00 l)-oriented Bi2Te3 topological insulator thin films have been deposited on (111)-oriented ferroelectric 0.71Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.29PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) single-crystal substrates. Taking advantage of the nonvolatile polarization charges induced by the polarization direction switching of PMN-PT substrates at room temperature, the carrier density, Fermi level, magnetoconductance, conductance channel, phase coherence length, and quantum corrections to the conductance can be in situ modulated in a reversible and nonvolatile manner. Specifically, upon the polarization switching from the positively poled Pr+ state (i.e., polarization direction points to the film) to the negatively poled Pr- (i.e., polarization direction points to the bottom electrode) state, both the electron carrier density and the Fermi wave vector decrease significantly, reflecting a shift of the Fermi level toward the Dirac point. The polarization switching from Pr+ to Pr- also results in significant increase of the conductance channel α from -0.15 to -0.3 and a decrease of the phase coherence length from 200 to 80 nm at T = 2 K as well as a reduction of the electron-electron interaction. All these results demonstrate that electric-voltage control of physical properties using PMN-PT as both substrates and gating materials provides a simple and a straightforward approach to realize reversible and nonvolatile tuning of electronic properties of topological thin films and may be further extended to study carrier density-related quantum transport properties of other quantum matter.