Title: The marriage of topology and superconductivity
Reporter: Professor Zhenyu Zhang, University of Science and Technology of China
Time: April 8, 2021 at 3:00 pm
Location: Room 304, Block B, Physics Building
Organizers: Provincial Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials, Topological Functional Materials Research Center
Abstract
The recent discovery of topological materials as a new form of quantum matter offers appealing schemes for potential definitive realization of topological superconductors and unambiguous detection of Majorana fermions. In this talk, I will attempt to give an overview on the recent advances and latest excitements in this vibrant area, with some of our own stories surrounding low-dimensional topological superconductors and a new class of high-Tc superconductors squeezed in. Our first line of examples is on systems that rely on proximity effects; here we will show that proper introduction of dilute magnetic dopants at the interfaces of topological insulators and conventional superconductors can effectively convert the systems into chiral topological superconductors. Next we focus on intrinsic systems, exploring how Rashba spin-orbit coupling and van Hove singularity could join force to induce exotic topological phase transitions within the context of “correlation of correlations”. Beyond such microscopic model studies, we will also use first-principles approaches to identify candidate systems that promise to materialize 2D topological superconductivity. In doing so, we will highlight the importance of interfacial growth science and improved understanding of superconductivity mechanisms.
Introduction
Professor Zhenyu Zhang, Distinguished Chair Professor and Yan Jici Chair Professor of the University of Science and Technology of China, and the first batch of selected long-term projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Outstanding Young Overseas and National Innovative Talents. He graduated from Wuhan University in 1982 and received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in the United States (CUSPEA project) in 1989. He worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States from 1995 to 2010, and a part-time professor at Tennessee University in the United States from 1997 to 2011. He returned to HKUST full-time in early 2011. He has been engaged in the research of condensed matter theory for a long time, devoted to the microscopic growth mechanism at the atomic scale, the prediction of new materials and the optimization of physical properties, focusing on the interaction and cooperation between theory and experiment, and achieved a series of original and pioneering results. Most of his theoretical predictions were verified by experiments. Recent research focuses on layered materials, interface superconductivity, topological superconductivity, quantum anomalous Hall effect, quantum plasmon, etc. He has published more than 310 SCI papers, including 79 Phys. Rev. Lett., 3 Science, and 6 Nature and sub-journals. 6 authorized patents. SCI has cited more than 13,000 times in total, and has been continuously selected into the list of China's highly cited scholars released by Elsevier since 2014. More than 300 lectures and academic lectures have been invited. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1998 and served as the associate editor of two sessions of Phys. Rev. Lett. Condensed Matter Physics.
