Laboratory Manager/Administrator:  Rebecca Stillo rstillo@fas.harvard.edu

After obtaining his bachelor's degree from Peking University in China, Xu joined Professor Zahid Hasan's group at Princeton. In Hasan's group, Xu became an expert on Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES), a powerful tool to directly visualize the electronic band structures of materials. His research with Hasan on Weyl semimetals was named a Top-10 breakthrough of the year by PhysicsWorld.

Then, in 2016, Xu joined Professor Nuh Gedik's group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher. In Gedik's group and in close collaboration with Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Xu obtained skills on optical/THz spectroscopy, electronic/optoelectronic transport and 2D material fabrication. His recent work has sparked great interest in studying nonlinear electronic responses in topological materials.

Xu has a broad interest in electronic and optical properties in quantum matters, with the particular emphasis on emergent quantum phenomena, such as topological and broken symmetry states. Combining the versatile tools that will be developed in the TopoXu LAB and powerful facilities provided by National Labs and worldwide beamlines, the Xu group will explore and uncover the stunning beauty of quantum crystals.

Moreover, the Xu group thoroughly respects and appreciates the power of interdisciplinary approaches and synergetic efforts. The group will take on Xu's strong collaborative ties around the world to solve the challenges in fundamental science, as well as in clean energy, low-power electronics, quantum computing, etc. Housed in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, the beautiful and natural synergy among physics, chemistry and biology will spark new understanding, ideas, science and technology (Learn more).