Aurelia Meiqi Brook
Department: Physics Advisor: Arka Majumdar My research under Professor Arka Majumdar concerns the study of light-matter interactions, semiconductor-based photonics, and meta-optics. Meta-optics are optical lenses formed by collections of nanometer-scale pillars, which allow for selective transmission and reflection of light at desired wavelengths. They provide a lightweight, compact solution to any application where this kind of tunability confers an advantage. This is especially the case for clean energy applications. For example, in imaging, hot objects emit thermal radiation in the infrared wavelength range; analyzing the spectrum of light emanating from an object provides a precise measurement of its temperature. Therefore, meta-optics which absorb infrared photons can...
Ruoyu Zhang
Department: Physics Advisor: Mark Rudner My current research is on theoretical studies of Floquet engineering, which utilize periodic drive to modify properties of matters and induce non-equilibrium phenomena that do not exist in equilibrium. Specifically, I focus on electronic and thermal transport in Floquet topological insulators as well as chiral plasmon oscillations in driven dirac materials....
Mai Nguyen
Department of Physics Faculty Advisor: Professor Xiaodong Xu The growing demand for faster and more efficient data processing and storage has driven the search for alternatives to traditional charge-based electronics. One promising option is spin wave, which is the collective disturbances of aligned spins in magnetic materials. These waves can transmit information with high fidelity over long distances without moving electric charge, significantly reducing energy loss due to heating and lowering power consumption in devices. My research focuses on observing and enhancing the so-called “nonlinear” in spin waves. By gaining precise control over these nonlinear interactions—similar to how we control diodes and transistors in traditional electronics—we...
Gianluca Rafael Delgado
Department: Physics Advisor: David Cobden Research Summary: The field of 2D materials has led to massive leaps forwards in our ability to study and control novel quantum phases in a variety of systems. So far much of the work in this field has focused on graphene based or semiconductor based structures but comparatively little work has been done on studying semi-metallic systems outside of graphene. My work as a 3rd year PhD student in the group of Prof. David Cobden will consist of using electronic transport to better understand the quantum phases of the 2D semi-metal tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) in the few-layer limit. Previous studies on WTe2...
Wenqin Chen
Department: Physics Advisor: Di Xiao Research statement: The dynamical creation and control of novel phases of materials promises applications in next-generation energy conversion and information processing technologies. Under the Fellowship, I’ll perform a comprehensive research to demonstrate that phonons, the collective crystal vibrations, are nano-scale analog of electric motors generating magnetism in quantum materials. Through theoretical analysis and computational techniques, my research aims to provide innovative and practical guidance towards future magnetic devices contributing to energy efficiency and sustainability....
Toby Chu
Department: Physics Advisor: Matthew Yankowitz I am a 3rd year PhD student in physics working in the Yankowitz Lab. I am interested in the novel phenomena hosted in 2D materials and their heterostructures, and I study these systems from a microscopic point of view using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS). My current research focus is on systems exhibiting spontaneous electron fractionalization and crystallization, including twisted bilayer MoTe2 and rhombohedral few-layer graphene. I believe that the study of fundamental physics will inevitably lead to technological advancements that can benefit the human kind as a whole, as is the case throughout history....
Anna Okounkova
Department: Physics Adivsor: Matthew Yankowitz My research in condensed matter physics under Prof. Matt Yankowitz is on the electronic transport of 2D materials. During my time under the CEI Fellowship, I will be investigating the properties and applications of rhombohedral pentalayer graphene aligned to hexagonal boron nitride. Combining these structural criteria in one nanoscale device is predicted to lead to remarkable phenomenons observable in graphene, most excitingly fractional Chern insulators (FCI). In FCIs, the fractionalized excitations are conducted by composite fermions, such as anyons. Due to their intrinsic topological properties, these anyons can be non-abelian, which is of significant interest in topological quantum computation. Compared to...
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
Department: Physics Faculty Advisor: Di Xiao 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
Department: Physics Faculty Advisor: Juin-Haw Chu 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...
Yeu (Helen) Chen
Department: Physics Faculty Advisor: Gerald Seidler 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
Department: Physics Faculty Advisor: Xiaodong Xu 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....