Thallium in Technosols from Allchar (North Macedonia): Isotopic and speciation insights.

Allchar (North Macedonia) mining area is known for anomalous background Tl concentrations. In this study, we combine accurate detection of Tl stable isotope ratios with data on mineralogy/speciation and chemical extraction of Tl in Tl-contaminated Technosol profiles. We demonstrate that Tl in the studied soils varies significantly in both concentration (500 mg/kg-18 g/kg) and isotopic composition (-1.

Control and Entanglement of Individual Rydberg Atoms near a Nanoscale Device.

Coherent control of Rydberg atoms near dielectric surfaces is a major challenge due to the large sensitivity of Rydberg states to electric fields. We demonstrate coherent single-atom operations and two-qubit entanglement as close as 100  μm from a nanophotonic device. Using the individual atom control enabled by optical tweezers to study the spatial and temporal properties of the electric field from the surface, we employ dynamical decoupling techniques to characterize and cancel the electric-field noise with submicrosecond temporal resolution.

Investigation of Calcium Forms in Lichens from Travertine Sites.

Lichens are symbiotic organisms with an extraordinary capability to colonise areas of extreme climate and heavily contaminated sites, such as metal-rich habitats. Lichens have developed several mechanisms to overcome the toxicity of metals, including the ability to bind metal cations to extracellular sites of symbiotic partners and to subsequently form oxalates. Calcium is an essential alkaline earth element that is important in various cell processes.

Entanglement transport and a nanophotonic interface for atoms in optical tweezers.

The realization of an efficient quantum optical interface for multi-qubit systems is an outstanding challenge in science and engineering. Using two atoms in individually controlled optical tweezers coupled to a nanofabricated photonic crystal cavity, we demonstrate entanglement generation, fast nondestructive readout, and full quantum control of atomic qubits. The entangled state is verified in free space after being transported away from the cavity by encoding the qubits into long-lived states and using dynamical decoupling.

Strong Coupling of Two Individually Controlled Atoms via a Nanophotonic Cavity.

We demonstrate photon-mediated interactions between two individually trapped atoms coupled to a nanophotonic cavity. Specifically, we observe collective enhancement when the atoms are resonant with the cavity and level repulsion when the cavity is coupled to the atoms in the dispersive regime. Our approach makes use of individual control over the internal states of the atoms and their position with respect to the cavity mode, as well as the light shifts to tune atomic transitions individually, allowing us to directly observe the anticrossing of the bright and dark two-atom states.

Geochemical distribution of selected elements in flotation tailings and soils/sediments from the dam spill at the abandoned antimony mine Stolice, Serbia.

Materials held within mine tailings pose a serious risk to the environment in cases of tailings dam failure. Collapse of the tailing dam at the Stolice antimony mine in West Serbia caused a spilling of tailing slurry into the nearby river watersheds. Medium-term effects of As, Pb, Sb, Zn, and Cd from the tailings material that remained in the flooded zone 3 years after the initial exposure were evaluated.

Crystal structure of the tetra-gonal polymorph of bis-(1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium) tetra-bromido-cadmate.

Both unique Cd atoms in the tetra-gonal polymorph of bis-(1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium) tetra-bromido-cadmate, (C6H11N2)2[CdBr4], occupy special positions (site symmetry -4). The crystal structure consists of isolated tetra-hedral [CdBr4](2-) anions which are surrounded by 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium cations. The methyl and ethyl side chains of the cations show positional disorder in a 0.

An investigation of polyhedral deformation in two mixed-metal diarsenates: SrZnAs₂O₇ and BaCuAs₂O₇.

Two isostructural diarsenates, SrZnAs2O7 (strontium zinc diarsenate), (I), and BaCuAs2O7 [barium copper(II) diarsenate], (II), have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The three-dimensional open-framework crystal structure consists of corner-sharing M2O5 (M2 = Zn or Cu) square pyramids and diarsenate (As2O7) groups. Each As2O7 group shares its five corners with five different M2O5 square pyramids.

Simple method for locking birefringent resonators.

We report on a simple method of locking a laser to a birefringent cavity using polarization spectroscopy. The birefringence of the resonator permits the simple extraction of an error signal by using one polarization state as a phase reference for another state. No modulation of the light or the resonator is required, reducing the complexity of the laser locking setup.

Ionothermal synthesis and crystal structure of a new organic-inorganic hybrid compound: catena-poly[bis(1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium) [hepta-μ-bromido-pentacuprate(I)]].

A new organic-inorganic hybrid compound, catena-poly[bis(1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium) [μ5-bromido-tri-μ3-bromido-tri-μ2-bromido-pentacuprate(I)]], {(C6H11N2)2[Cu5Br7]}n, has been obtained under ionothermal conditions from a reaction mixture containing Ba(OH)2·8H2O, Cu(OH)2·2H2O, As2O5, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide and distilled water. The crystal structure consists of complex [Cu5Br7](2-) anions arranged in sinusoidal {[Cu5Br7](2-)}n chains running along the a axis, which are surrounded by 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cations. Three of the five unique Br atoms and one of the three Cu(I) atoms occupy special positions with half-occupancy (a mirror plane perpendicular to the b axis, site symmetry m).

Structural features of two novel alluaudite-like arsenates CdZn(AsO)(HAsO)(HAsO) and CdMg(AsO)(HAsO)(HAsO).

Two new compounds, CdZn(AsO)(HAsO)(HAsO) () and CdMg(AsO)(HAsO)(HAsO) (), have been prepared hydrothermally. Their crystal structures consist of chains of edge-sharing 1O(OH), 1O(OH), 2O(OH), and 2O(OH) octahedra (1, 1 = Zn, Cd; 2, 2 = Zn for , and 1, 1 = Mg, Cd; 2, 2 = Mg for ) that are stacked parallel to (1 0 1) and are connected by the [(AsO)(AsO(OH))] and [(AsO)(AsO(OH))] tetrahedra. These chains produce two types of channels parallel to the -axis.

Ba[Co3(VO4)2(OH)2] with a regular Kagomé lattice.

The new layered title compound, barium di-μ-hydroxido-di-μ-vanadato-tricobaltate(II), was prepared under low-temperature hydrothermal conditions. Its crystal structure comprises Co(2+) and O(2-) ions in the Kagomé geometry. The octahedral Co(3)O(6)(OH)(2) Kagomé layers, made up of edge-shared CoO(4)(OH)(2) octahedra with Co on a site of 2/m symmetry, alternate along the c axis with barium vanadate heteropolyhedral layers, in which Ba is on a site of 3m symmetry and V is on a site of 3m symmetry.

Zn3(PO4)2(H2O)(0.8)(NH3)(1.2).

The structure of the title compound, ammineaquadi-mu(5)-phosphato-trizinc(II), [Zn(3)(PO(4))(2)(H(2)O)(0.8)(NH(3))(1.2)], consists of two parts: (i) PO(4) and ZnO(4) vertex-sharing tetrahedra arranged in layers parallel to (100) and (ii) ZnO(2)(N/O)(2) tetrahedra located between the layers.

Substitutional and positional disorder in Sr(2.88)Cu(3.12)(PO4)4.

The title compound, a hydrothermally synthesized strontium copper(II) phosphate(V) (2.88/3.12/4), is isotypic with Sr(3)Cu(3)(PO(4))(4), obtained previously by solid-state reaction, but not with Sr(3)Cu(3)(PO(4))(4), obtained previously by the hydrothermal method.

Zn(1.86)Cd(0.14)(OH)VO(4).

The title compound, dizinc cadmium hydroxide tetraoxido-vanadate, Zn(1.86)Cd(0.14)(OH)VO(4), was prepared under low-temperature hydro-thermal conditions.

Sr, Ba and Cd arsenates with the apatite-type structure.

X-ray diffraction analysis of single crystals of three new arsenates adopting apatite-type structures yielded formula Sr(5)(AsO(4))(3)F for strontium arsenate fluoride, (I), (Sr(1.66)Ba(0.34))(Ba(2.

BaCo(2)(AsO(4))(2).

Suitable single crystals of the title compound, barium dicobalt(II) bis-[orthoarsenate(V)], were prepared under hydro-thermal conditions. This phase belongs to a series of compounds with general formula AM(2)(XO(4))(2), where A = alkaline earth metal, M = Mg or a divalent first-row transition element, and X = P, As or V. BaCo(2)(AsO(4))(2) is isotypic with BaNi(2)(XO(4))(2) (X = P, V or As) and is characterized by brucite-like sheets of edge-sharing CoO(6) octa-hedra (3 symmetry) parallel to (001), with one-third of the octa-hedral positions being vacant.

Barium zinc diarsenate.

The title compound, BaZnAs(2)O(7), belongs to the family of isotypic series of compounds adopting the general formula M1(2+)M2(2+)X(2)O(7) (M1(2+) = Ca, Sr, Ba or Pb; M2(2+) = Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn or Cd; X = P or As). Suitable single crystals were prepared under hydro-thermal conditions. The framework structure is characterized by corner-sharing ZnO(5) square pyramids and As(2)O(7) groups where the Zn atoms occupy channels.