Research Directions
Room-Temperature Topological Transport
Making electronics energy-efficient by not allowing the electrons to make U-turns.
Identify topological matter that functions at room T.
(Nano)fabricate devices with room-T topological materials.
Realize topological electron transport at room T .
Techniques
STM
Transport
Materials
'Insulating' topological and Chern insulators
Topological Superconductivity
Developing a material platform for topological qubit
Theoretically, topological qubits should be immune to decoherence and could scale up to a million qubits. That’s why there is so much excitement, including recent efforts by Microsoft. However, we still lack a reliable material platform. We need magnetic adatoms in a topological superconductor.
Techniques
STM
Electrical & Heat Transport
Materials
Kagome Materials
Moire Matter
2D Materials
Quantum Materials for Sensing
This research bridges quantum materials and quantum sensing by leveraging the unique, highly responsive properties of these materials. Topological materials near phase transitions can boost photo-detection sensitivity, while systems with competing electronic orders offer precision strain sensing. Additionally, distinct resistance–temperature behaviors may enable versatile, wide-range temperature sensors.
Techniques
Electronic & Optoelectronic transport
Materials
Topological CDW
Topology+Excitons
Kagome Materials
Optoelectronics with Quantum Matter
Topological materials offer exciting opportunities to enhance optoelectronic performance. For example, chiral topological materials exhibit strong photogalvanic effects. By combining scanning photocurrent microscopy with scanning tunneling microscopy, we will identify topological materials that demonstrate substantial room-temperature photoresponses.
Techniques
STM
Photocurrent Microscopy
Materials
Chiral Topological Materials
AI + STM Discovery of New Quantum Materials
We will integrate AI with STM to accelerate the discovery of quantum materials. AI will identify promising candidates, which will be validated through first-principles calculations. After collaborating with synthesis experts to fabricate these materials, we will use STM to confirm their quantum properties. This approach aligns with the Materials Genome Initiative.
Techniques
STM, LLM
Deep Learning
Materials
Room-T Topology
Kagome Magnets
Publications Before Joining UCLA
Quantum/ 2D/ Topological Materials & Devices:
Lead Author Publications: 1 Nature, 5 Nature Physics/ Nature Materials/ Nature Electronics (1 cover article) [8 total], 3 Nature Communications/ PRL [5 Total], 2 PRB/ PRM [6 Total]
01
Hybrid Topological Quantum State
Nature 628, 527 (2024)- Interplay between different quantum topological states in elemental As.
Impact: New topological materials and devices
beyond Bi or Sb-based platforms.
Topological Excitonic Insulator
Nature Physics (2025)- First experimental identification of such a correlated topological phase in a 3D material- sought after since the 1960s.
02
02
Unconventional Gapping Behavior in a Kagome Superconductor
Nature Physics 21, 556 (2025)- First evidence for band selective pairing with remarkable decoupling of the (two)
superconducting gaps.
03
Phase-Coherent Transport of Topological Hinge modes
Nature Physics 20, 776 (2024)- First joint
spectroscopy-transport confirmation of topological
boundary modes in an insulator.
04
Topological Charge Density Wave (CDW)
Nature Physics 20, 1253 (2024)- First detection of a topological boundary mode (a real space “spectral flow”) inside the CDW gap, surviving up to 260 K
05
Room T Quantum Spin Hall State
Nature Materials 21, 1111 (2022); cover article- First room-temperature, ambient-pressure, zero-field quantum phenomenon.
Impact: Accessible for next-generation quantum tech.
06
Tunable Superconductivity and Anomalous Hall Effect in atomically thin 1T' WS2
Nature Communications 16, 2399 (2025)- A cascade
of electronic phase transitions by tuning a single parameter,
pressure.
07
Broken Symmetries of Kagome Chiral Charge Order
Nature Communications 16, 3782 (2025)- Elucidating
the symmetry breaking in the kagome superconductor
KV3Sb5.
08
2D Superconductivity and van Hove Singularity (vHs) Intertwined to Topology
Nature Communications 16, 3998 (2025)- 2D superconductivity and vHs confined to the top and bottom
surfaces of ZrAs2.
09
2D Physics/ Correlated & Topological Phases/ Semiconductor Devices:
Lead Author Publications: 1 Nature Physics, 6 PRL (4 editor’s suggestions, 1 featured in Physics) [7 total], 1 PNAS (highlighted with a commentary), 3 PRB (1 editor’s suggestion) [7 total]
01
Bloch Ferromagnetism
Nature Physics 17, 48 (2021)- First realization of the textbook Bloch/Stoner ferromagnetism, an interaction-driven itinerant ferromagnetism
Impact: Verify a century-old prediction and show correlation physics in composite fermions.
Collapse in the Electronic Degrees of Freedom at Low Densities
PNAS 117, 32244 (2020)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 116601 (2021)
02
02
Anisotropic Wigner Crystal
Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 036601 (2022)- At low densities in an anisotropic system, electrons crystallize into an anisotropic electron solid.
03
New Even Denominator Fractional Quantum Hall States and Their Origin
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 256601 (2018)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 256601 (2018)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 126301 (2023)
04
Luttinger Theorem & Particle Hole Symmetry of Composite Fermions (CFs)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 046601 (2020)- Resolved a long-standing puzzle, showing that the CF Fermi sea obeys the
Luttinger theorem and particle-hole symmetry
05