Absence of metallicity and bias-dependent resistivity in low-carrier-density EuCd2As2

EuCd2As2 was theoretically predicted to be a minimal model of Weyl semimetals with a single pair of Weyl points in the ferromagnet state. However, the heavily p-doped EuCd2As2 crystals in previous experiments prevent direct identification of the semimetal hypothesis. Here we present a comprehensive magneto-transport study of high-quality EuCd2As2 crystals with ultralow bulk carrier density (10^13 cm-3). In contrast to the general expectation of a Weyl semimetal phase, EuCd2As2 shows insulating behavior in both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic states as well as surface-dominated conduction from band bending. Moreover, the application of a dc bias current can dramatically modulate the resistance by over one order of magnitude, and induce a periodic resistance oscillation due to the geometric resonance. Such nonlinear transport results from the highly nonequilibrium state induced by electrical field near the band edge. Our results suggest an insulating phase in EuCd2As2 and put a strong constraint on the underlying mechanism of anomalous transport properties in this system.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

A new method to evaluate the effects of mechanical heterogeneity on fault architecture in sedimentary sequences

Geologists have long realized the important control of mechanical stratigraphy on fault nucleation, fault linkage and fault compartmentalization. However, uncertainties still exist concerning the mechanical heterogeneity of the stratigraphy because of difficulties in quantifying the mechanical stratigraphy. In this study, the average strength Save of a section is calculated considering the strength and thickness of each individual layer. The strength difference SΔ and normalized mechanical contrast SΔ/Save are defined for each individual layer in a section. A diagram of the normalized mechanical contrast SΔ/Save versus the normalized height H/∑i=1nhi can then be employed to effectively evaluate the vertical mechanical heterogeneity of the stratigraphy in a section. High-frequency fluctuations between negative and positive SΔ/Save values represent high mechanical heterogeneity, and vice versa. The scaled mechanical heterogeneity MHscaled can be used as an index to quantify the mechanical heterogeneity of the stratigraphy in sections with different scales. However, it is also important to realize that fault throw may promote or restrict the control of mechanical heterogeneity on faulting deformation. The mechanical heterogeneity may present limited control on the fault architecture, particularly when the fault throw is several times larger than the scale of the section. Increasing deformation rate may also minimise the control of the mechanical heterogeneity on the fault architecture

Gate-Tunable Quantum Acoustoelectric Transport in Graphene

Transport probes the motion of quasi-particles in response to external excitations. Apart from the well-known electric and thermoelectric transport, acoustoelectric transport induced by traveling acoustic waves has rarely been explored. Here, by adopting hybrid nanodevices integrated with piezoelectric substrates, we establish a simple design of acoustoelectric transport with gate tunability. We fabricate dual-gated acoustoelectric devices based on hBN-encapsulated graphene on LiNbO3. Longitudinal and transverse acoustoelectric voltages are generated by launching a pulsed surface acoustic wave. The gate dependence of zero-field longitudinal acoustoelectric signal presents strikingly similar profiles to that of Hall resistivity, providing a valid approach for extracting carrier density without magnetic field. In magnetic fields, acoustoelectric quantum oscillations appear due to Landau quantization, which are more robust and pronounced than Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. Our work demonstrates a feasible acoustoelectric setup with gate tunability, which can be extended to the broad scope of various van der Waals materials

Systematic genome editing of the genes on zebrafish Chromosome 1 by CRISPR/Cas9

Genome editing by the well-established CRISPR/Cas9 technology has greatly facilitated our understanding of many biological processes. However, a complete whole-genome knockout for any species or model organism has rarely been achieved. Here, we performed a systematic knockout of all the genes (1333) on Chromosome 1 in zebrafish, successfully mutated 1029 genes, and generated 1039 germline-transmissible alleles corresponding to 636 genes. Meanwhile, by high-throughput bioinformatics analysis, we found that sequence features play pivotal roles in effective gRNA targeting at specific genes of interest, while the success rate of gene targeting positively correlates with GC content of the target sites. Moreover, we found that nearly one-fourth of all mutants are related to human diseases, and several representative CRISPR/Cas9-generated mutants are described here. Furthermore, we tried to identify the underlying mechanisms leading to distinct phenotypes between genetic mutants and antisense morpholino-mediated knockdown embryos. Altogether, this work has generated the first chromosome-wide collection of zebrafish genetic mutants by the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, which will serve as a valuable resource for the community, and our bioinformatics analysis also provides some useful guidance to design gene-specific gRNAs for successful gene editing