Di Xiao
Di Xiao is Department Chair of Materials Science & Engineering, the Robert J. Campbell Chair in the College of Engineering, and Professor of Physics at the UW. Xiao develops novel ways to probe and control magnetism in van der Waals materials. He investigates novel phenomena, including transport and optical signatures of topological phases and heterostructure engineering of novel quantum states. Xiao is a renowned theorist in the field of quantum materials, having been named a Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited Researcher every year since 2017, with his work cited over 46,000 times and holding an h-index of 71....
Lingnan Shen
I am a third year Physics PhD student at University of Washington where I am advised by Prof. Di Xiao. I am broadly interested in the intersection between quantum information and quantum matter, especially in implementing theoretical condensed matter problem on actual quantum hardware. Previously, I had experience with using computational tools to explore the application of atomic defect in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in quantum sensing technology. I’m also involved in several outreach activities such as the UW Research Computing Club and the Climate & Diversity Committee of Physics Department....
Sarah Edwards
Magnetism and ordered phases in quantum materials have many applications, from energy-efficient data storage to superconductors that can transport electricity perfectly with no losses. In my work as a PhD student under Dr. Jiun-Haw Chu, I synthesize and study single crystals of quantum materials in order to figure how what makes their electronic and magnetic properties tick. In particular, my research focuses on strain as an axis of control- by manually altering the symmetry of a crystal, we can induce changes in the magnetic ordering, manipulate the population of spin domains, and investigate underlying behavior that couples to strain, such as nematicity, a phase...
Yeu (Helen) Chen
I am a third-year graduate student in the physics PhD program, currently working in Dr. Gerald Seidler's group. Our team specializes in x-ray spectroscopy for the study of material properties, and I have been actively involved in designing and building advanced instruments for this purpose. My specific research focus centers on the characterization of battery electrolytes using x-ray spectroscopy. I am passionate about contributing to advancements in clean energy research and am thrilled to be a part of the CEI community. I look forward to expanding my expertise and exploring new avenues within the field of clean energy research....
Jack Barlow
I am a third year physics graduate student working with Prof. Xiaodong Xu studying low-dimensional optoelectronic systems. My research is focused on understanding the properties of 2-dimensional topologically non-trivial condensed matter systems from optical and transport probes, as well as designing and fabricating heterostructures with 2-d materials which may exhibit interesting topological physics....
Jiayi Zhu
My research is mainly on studying valley polarization controlling in different transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) heterostructures and exploring TMD device structures with higher efficiency. Valley pseudospin is an analogy to spin, giving rise to a new quantum index for people’s manipulation and it has potential application in quantum computing in the future. 2D TMD is the most promising candidate material for useful valleytronic application from its strong excitonic effect and spin-valley locking properties. In TMD heterostructure, the strongly unbalanced valley polarization can be generated with circularly polarized light of minimal power. For example, in WSe2/MoSe2, people can use as low as a few nanowatt...
Chun-Chih Tseng
Introducing the magnetic and spin-orbit coupling into graphene in proximity to dissimilar crystals has been extensively studied to realize exotic emergent physics. They include the dissipationless edge transport in quantum anomalous Hall effect and the efficient spin accumulation due to exchange splitting of Dirac cone in graphene. My research will focus on the investigation of these proximity effects in graphene on van der Waal magnets and topological insulators by the transport characterization. This study will help to gain the better understanding in engineering graphene properties and might benefit the low energy consumption application in the future Advisor: Matthew Yankowitz - Physics...
Heonjoon Park
Two-dimensional semiconductor moiré superlattices are a powerful platform for engineering correlated electronic phenomena. My research focuses on the exploration of the extended Bose-Hubbard model of exciton lattices in twisted transition metal dichalcogenide moiré materials. I employ optical techniques to probe emergent phases in interacting opto-moiré quantum matter. Advisor: Xiaodong Xu - Physics...
Eric Lester
My research aims to study electrical transport in two-dimensional (2D) materials and 2D heterostructures. Particularly, I am interested in the 2D topological insulator WTe2 and its complex interactions with graphene. I have also been developing a two-axis rotator for use on a dilution refrigerator to study magnetic anisotropy of low-dimensional materials below 1 Kelvin. My research on highly anisotropic materials like WTe2 is primarily concerned with fundamental physical mechanisms, and it is my hope that by gaining a better understanding of these materials, new applications can be discovered as well. These include highly efficient, atomically-thin thermoelectric devices for use in energy and heat efficient microelectronic...
Jonathan DeStefano
I utilize materials synthesis and thermodynamic, magnetometric, and transport measurements to study materials with non-trivial topological band structures. These materials host surface states which hold promise for applications in a wide variety of fields including quantum computing and next-generation electronics. Of particular interest to me is the interplay of these surface states with magnetism or superconductivity. I hope to develop a deeper understanding of these materials, thus pushing them closer to being used in technical applications. Advisor: Jiun-Haw Chu - Physics...
Jared Abramson
Approximately 250,000 metric tons of nuclear waste currently sit in short term storage around the world with the US accounting for over 90,000. Deep geologic repositories (DGRs) are widely considered the best solution to dispose/storge this waste. The general design of DGRs is widely agreed upon, but some specific aspects optimum design is still uncertain and understudied. One of these aspects is the cement that is used as containment and backfill in some DGR designs, including the design that was implemented in the US at Yucca Mountain until recently. My research focuses on studying different cement formulations to understand how the cement will contribute...
Tharindu W. Fernando
I will use computational and theoretical approaches to understand and predict topological effects of materials in their optically excited states. Currently, I am wrapping-up an investigation on a novel interband index T for 2D systems (such as transition metal dichalcogenides). We showed that T may provide gauge-invariant excitonic optical selection rules and help characterize valley topology in excited states. Next, I will develop robust DFT-based computational schemes to calculate T in other materials beyond tight-binding frameworks. I will simultaneously study T in non-Hermitian systems; which are realistic quantum systems with gain and loss due to interactions with optical fields and environments. I am interested...