A laser frequency comb that enables radial velocity measurements with a precision of 1 cm s(-1)

Searches for extrasolar planets using the periodic Doppler shift of stellar spectral lines have recently achieved a precision of 60 cm s(-1) (ref. 1), which is sufficient to find a 5-Earth-mass planet in a Mercury-like orbit around a Sun-like star. To find a 1-Earth-mass planet in an Earth-like orbit, a precision of approximately 5 cm s(-1) is necessary. The combination of a laser frequency comb with a Fabry-Pérot filtering cavity has been suggested as a promising approach to achieve such Doppler shift resolution via improved spectrograph wavelength calibration, with recent encouraging results. Here we report the fabrication of such a filtered laser comb with up to 40-GHz (approximately 1-A) line spacing, generated from a 1-GHz repetition-rate source, without compromising long-term stability, reproducibility or spectral resolution. This wide-line-spacing comb, or 'astro-comb', is well matched to the resolving power of high-resolution astrophysical spectrographs. The astro-comb should allow a precision as high as 1 cm s(-1) in astronomical radial velocity measurements.     

根际微生物群落多样性在重金属土壤修复中的研究

植物根际微生物在植物修复重金属污染土壤时分泌的激素、铁载体、ＡＣＣ脱氨酶、黄酮类化合物和酚酸类等\r\n有机物具有增强植物生长、促进植物根际对重金属吸收、转运和积累的作用,同时促进适应相应根际环境的功能微\r\n生物群落的建立．文章结合作者课题组的研究结果,概述根际微生物在植物修复重金属污染土壤过程中的作用,总\r\n结了根际细菌、真菌、古菌在植物修复中的作用,进一步分析了土壤污染类型、改良剂、根际植物的种类等对根际微\r\n生物活动的影响,对今后植物修复重金属污染土壤过程中与根际微生物作用相关的研究进行了展望．     

Nanoscale magnetic sensing with an individual electronic spin in diamond

Detection of weak magnetic fields with nanoscale spatial resolution is an outstanding problem in the biological and physical sciences. For example, at a distance of 10 nm, the spin of a single electron produces a magnetic field of about 1 muT, and the corresponding field from a single proton is a few nanoteslas. A sensor able to detect such magnetic fields with nanometre spatial resolution would enable powerful applications, ranging from the detection of magnetic resonance signals from individual electron or nuclear spins in complex biological molecules to readout of classical or quantum bits of information encoded in an electron or nuclear spin memory. Here we experimentally demonstrate an approach to such nanoscale magnetic sensing, using coherent manipulation of an individual electronic spin qubit associated with a nitrogen-vacancy impurity in diamond at room temperature. Using an ultra-pure diamond sample, we achieve detection of 3 nT magnetic fields at kilohertz frequencies after 100 s of averaging. In addition, we demonstrate a sensitivity of 0.5 muT Hz(-1/2) for a diamond nanocrystal with a diameter of 30 nm.