EDUCATION

    Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics | September 2010 – July 2015

    Institute of Physics (IOP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China

    Research Advisors: Prof. Xu-Cun Ma & Prof. Jiandong Guo

    Dissertation: Superconductivity in molecular beam epitaxy grown Gallium films

    B.S. in Materials Physics | September 2006 – July 2010

    Department of Material Science and Engineering, Shandong University, China

RESEARCH INTERESTS

    • Epitaxial growth of quantum materials by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) including iron-based superconductors (e.g., FeSeTe), transition metal dichalcogenides (e.g., NbSe2, WSe2, WTe2) and Kagome magnets (e.g., FeSn, FeSb)

    • Emerging quantum phenomena in quantum material heterostructures including interfacial superconductivity, topological order, and magnetism

    • Quantum phase transitions including magnetic field induced superconductivity to metal transition, Mott insulator to metal transition, and antiferromagnetism/nematicity to superconductivity transitions in iron-based superconductors

RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

    Postdoctoral Researcher | October 2017 – present

    Prof. Lian Li’s group | Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, US

    • Superconductivity in FeSe

    1. Determination of pairing symmetry in one unit cell (UC) FeSe/SrTiO3(001) by phase-referenced quasi-particle interference

    2. Observation of stripe order, nematicity, and bicollinear antiferromagnetic to nematic order phase transition in multilayer FeSexTe1-x/SrTiO3(001)

    • Quantum phases of matter

    1. Demonstration of Coulomb engineering Mott insulator in lateral and vertical heterostructures of 1T-NbSe2 and 1H-NbSe2 polymorphs

    2. Synthesis of Kagome magnets FeSb and FeSn

    Postdoctoral Researcher | October 2015 – September 2017

    Prof. Xinhe Bao’s group | Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), CAS, China

    • Superconductivity in FeSe

    1. Determination the mechanism for charge transfer in 1UC FeSe/SrTiO3(001) by using X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy/Ultraviolet Photoemission Spectroscopy     by providing direct experimental evidences for band bending and enhanced Ti-O bonding at the interface

    2. Synthesis of SnSe/SnTe heterostructures and studies of their thermoelectric properties

    Graduate Researcher | July 2014 – September 2015

    Prof. Qi-Kun Xue’s group | Tsinghua University, China

    • Topological order in epitaxial FeSe thin films

    Epitaxial growth of 1UC FeSe/SrTiO3(001) and observation of edge states near ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic edges, demonstrating topological order in     the high Tc superconductor 1UC FeSe/SrTiO3(001)

    Graduate Researcher | September 2011 – July 2014

    Prof. Qi-Kun Xue’s group | Institute of Physics (IOP), CAS, China

    • Superconductivity in Gallium thin films

    1. Epitaxial growth of high quality Gallium films on GaN(0001) substrates and observation of

    Huimin Zhang Curriculum Vitae

    enhanced superconductivity in 2ML Ga/GaN by in-situ STM/S and ex-situ transport measurements

    2. The first experimental observation of Griffiths singularity near a quantum phase transition in 3ML Ga/GaN

    3. Synthesis of metastable γ-Ga phase on Si (111) substrates and observation of elongated magnetic vortices in γ-Ga nanostripes