A longstanding goal of research in semiconductor spintronics is the ability to inject, modulate, and detect electron spin in a single device 1-4 . A simple prototype consists of a lateral semiconductor channel with two ferromagnetic contacts, one of which serves as a source of spin-polarized electrons and the other as a detector. Based on work in analogous metallic systems 5-8 , two important criteria have emerged for demonstrating electrical detection of spin transport. The first is the measurement of a non-equilibrium spin population using a "non-local" ferromagnetic detector through which no charge current flows 5,7 . The potential at the detection electrode should be sensitive to the relative magnetizations of the detector and the source electrodes, a property referred to as the spin-valve effect. A second and more rigorous test is the existence of a Hanle effect, which is the modulation and suppression of the spin valve signal due to precession and dephasing in a transverse magnetic field 5,8 . Here we report on the observation of both the spin valve and Hanle effects in lateral devices consisting of epitaxial Fe Schottky tunnel barrier contacts on an n-doped GaAs channel. The dependence on transverse magnetic field, temperature, and contact separation are in good agreement with a model incorporating spin drift and diffusion. Spin transport is detected for both directions of current flow through the source electrode. The sign of the electrical detection signal is found to vary with the injection current and is correlated with the spin polarization in the GaAs channel determined by optical measurements. These

A new record for high-finesse silica waveguide ring resonators (WRRs), to the best of our knowledge, is demonstrated experimentally. The achieved finesse and resonant depths of the silica WRR with a length of 7.9 cm and a diameter of 2.5 cm are 196.7% and 98%, respectively. In addition, the silica WRR chip is coupled with single-polarization fiber to improve the polarization extinction ratio (PER) and, thus, to reduce the polarization error. With the application of this high-finesse and high-PER WRR to the resonant micro-optic gyroscope (RMOG), a bias stability of 0.004°/s is observed over a 1 h timeframe. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first RMOG reported in the open literature that can sense the earth's rotation rate (15°/h).

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As one kind of the main optical error sources in the resonant micro-optic gyro (RMOG), the optical Kerr-effect brings a nonzero bias to the output of the RMOG. The optical Kerr-effect induced bias error is proportional to the difference between the clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) light-intensities input to the resonator. A new method for testing the optical Kerr-effect induced bias error in the RMOG is proposed and demonstrated. A square-wave intensity-modulated optical signal with a symmetrical duty ratio of 50% is achieved by an acousto-optic modulator (AOM), thus making the input-intensity mismatch between the CW and CCW lightwaves change periodically. In this way, we obtain the optical Kerr-effect induced bias errors that vary periodically in accordance with the variation of the square-wave signal. The experimental results show a good agreement with the theoretical value. Moreover, the testing result of the closedloop RMOG is consistent with the open-loop one. The above method is insusceptible to other noise, such as the backscattering-induced noise and the polarization fluctuation.

It is well-known that the closed-loop operation in optical gyros offers wider dynamic range and better linearity. By adding a stair-like digital serrodyne wave to a phase modulator can be used as a frequency shifter. The width of one stair in this stair-like digital serrodyne wave should be set equal to the optical transmission time in the resonator, which is relaxed in the hybrid digital phase modulation (HDPM) scheme. The physical mechanism for this relaxation is firstly indicated in this paper. Detailed theoretical and experimental investigations are presented for the HDPM. Simulation and experimental results show that the width of one stair is not restricted by the optical transmission time, however, it should be optimized according to the rise time of the output of the digital-to-analogue converter. Based on the optimum parameters of the HDPM, a bias stability of 0.05°/s for the integration time of 400 seconds in 1 h has been carried out in an RMOG with a waveguide ring resonator with a length of 7.9 cm and a diameter of 2.5 cm.

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Integrated nutrient management is important for sustainable agricultural production and protecting environment quality and has been widely investigated around the world. In this article the spatial variability of soil nutrients was investigated and a regionalized nutrient management system was developed using geostatistics and geographic information system technologies. A total of 511 GPS-referenced soil samples were taken in Yongji County, Shanxi province, China, and analysed for major soil nutrients: soil total nitrogen (TN), Olsen extractable phosphorus (OLSENP) and extractable potassium (EXTK). Low concentrations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were found and they are likely to be the main limiting nutrients for crop growth in this county. Within the county moderate spatial dependence was found for all three soil variables, but at different spatial scales. The spatial distributions of TN, OLSENP and EXTK were estimated by using kriging interpolation. The cropped areas of the county were divided into fertilizer management categories consisting of four classes of TN, three classes of OLSENP and two classes of EXTK. For the targeted crop yields, regionalized fertilization maps of N, P and K in the county were produced using geographic information system. In 3-year field verification trials in two villages the crop yields of the wheat-maize rotation system increased by 10-20%, and farmers' cash income increased by 1550-2610 RMB ha -1 year -1 where regional fertilization recommendations were implemented, in comparison with traditional farmers' practices. The regionalized maps are a practical alternative to site-specific soil nutrient management approaches in areas where it is not practical, because of small farm size or other constraints, to use intensive soil sampling and chemical analyses.

Amongst the rare-earth perovskite nickelates, LaNiO 3 (LNO) is an exception. While the former have insulating and antiferromagnetic ground states, LNO remains metallic and non-magnetic down to the lowest temperatures. It is believed that LNO is a strange metal, on the verge of an antiferromagnetic instability. Our work suggests that LNO is a quantum critical metal, close to an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point (QCP). The QCP behavior in LNO is manifested in epitaxial thin films with unprecedented high purities. We find that the temperature and magnetic field dependences of the resistivity of LNO at low temperatures are consistent with scatterings of charge carriers from weak disorder and quantum fluctuations of an antiferromagnetic nature. Furthermore, we find that the introduction of a small concentration of magnetic impurities qualitatively changes the magnetotransport properties of LNO, resembling that found in some heavy-fermion Kondo lattice systems in the vicinity of an antiferromagnetic QCP.