Liang Wu

Liang Wu
Standing Faculty

Assistant Professor

Research Areas: Condensed Matter, Ultrafast optics & Terahertz

+1(215)898-3566

DRL 2N24

Employment:
  • Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania (July 2018 - present ) 
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley (2016 - 2018)
  • Graduate Research Assistant, Johns Hopkins University (2011 - 2015)

Honors & Awards:

  • Outstanding Young Researcher Award (Macronix Prize), International Organization of Chinese Physicists and Astronomers (OCPA) (2020)
  • William L. McMillan Award for Outstanding Contributions in Condensed Matter Physics, University of Illinois (2019)
  • Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award, Army Research Office  (2019)
  • "30 under 30" in Science, Forbes Magazine (2018)
  • Michelson Postdoctoral Prize Lectureship, Case Western Reserve University (2017)
  • Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics,  American Physical Society (2017)
  • National Scholarship, Nanjing University (2008)
Education

Ph.D. Physics, Johns Hopkins University (2015)

B.S. Physics, Nanjing University (2010)

Research Interests

I am an experimental condensed matter physicist with a strong interest in light-matter interactions.  I develop and utilize time-resolved and nonlinear optical techniques in both the terahertz (THz) and optical frequency regimes to study and control properties of  topological and two-dimensional materials. In this class of matter, collective phases and properties defy a classical description, often leading to an exotically rich range of emergent phenomena.  My research interests include but are not limited to, topological insulators, semimetals and superconductor, quantum antiferromagnets and spintronics, 2D magnets, quantum spin liquids, and also liquid crystals. 

Courses Taught

Phys 151: Principles of Physics II

Selected Publications
  • J. Steinsberg, X. Han, S. Lee, J. Paglione, E. Takeuchi, C.L. Kane and Liang Wu* "Observation of the superconducting proximity effect from surface states in SmB6/YB6 thin film heterostructures via terahertz spectroscopy." 
    Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 096901 (2023)
  • Y. Xu, Z. Ni, Y. Liu, B. Ortiz, Q. Deng, S. Wilson, B. Yan, L. Balents, and Liang Wu* "Three-state nematicity and magneto-optical Kerr effect in the charge density waves in kagome superconductors." Nature Physics 18, 1470-1475  (2022)
  • X. Han, A. Markou, J. Stensberg, Y. Sun, C. Felser and Liang Wu* "Giant intrinsic  anomalous terahertz Faraday rotation in the magnetic Weyl semimetal Co2MnGa at room-temperature." Phys. Rev. B. 105, 174406 (2022)
  • Z. Ni, N. Huang, A. Haglund, D. Mandrus, and Liang Wu* "Observation of giant surface second harmonic generation coupled to nematic orders in the van der Waals antiferromagnet FePS3." Nano Letters 22, 3283-3288(2022) 
  • H. Zhang, Z. Ni, C. Stevens, A. Bai, J. Lynch, F. Peiris, J. Hendrickson, Liang Wu*, and D. Jariwala "Cavity-Enhanced Linear Dichroism in a van der Waals Antiferromagnet" Nature Photonics 16, 311-317 (2022)
  • Z. Ni, H. Zhang, D. Hopper, A. Haglund, N. Huang, D. Jariwala, L. Bassett, D. Mandrus, E.J. Mele, C.L. Kane, and Liang Wu* Direct imaging of antiferromagnetic domains and anomalous layer- dependent mirror symmetry breaking in atomically thin MnPS3. Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 187201 (2021) 
  • Z. Ni, A. Haglund, H. Wang, B. Xu, C. Bernhard, X. Qian, D. Mandrus, E.J. Mele, C.L. Kane and Liang Wu* "Imaging the Neel vector switching in the monolayer antiferromagnet  MnPSe3 with strain-controlled Ising order."  Nature Nanotechnology 16, 782-787 (2021) 
  • Z. Ni, K. Wang, Y. Zhang, O. P. Ocena, X. Han, B. Xu, K. Manna, J. Paglione, C. Felser, A. G. Grushin, F. de Juan, E. J. Mele and Liang Wu* Giant topological longitudinal circular photo-galvanic effect in the chiral multifold semimetal CoSi. Nature Communications, 12, 154 (2021)
  • Z. Ni, B. Xu, Y. Zhang, M. S ́anchez-Mart ́ınez, K. Manna, C. Felser, F. de juan, A.G. Grushin and Liang Wu* Linear and nonlinear optical responses in the chiral multifold semimetal RhSi. npj Quantum Materials 5, 96 (2020)
  • B. Xu, Z. Fang, M. Sanchez-Martınez, J. Vendobos, Z. Ni, K. Manna, K. Wang, J. Paglione, C. Felser, E.J. Mele, A. G. Grushin, A. M. Rappe and Liang Wu* Optical signatures of multifold fermions in the chiral topological semimetal CoSi.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, (44) 27104-27110 (2020)
  • D. Khadka, T. R. Thapaliya, S. H. Parra, X.Y. Han, J.J. Wen, J.D. Zang, J. M. Kikkawa, Liang Wu, S. X. Huang. Kondo physics in antiferromagnetic Weyl semimetal Mn3+xSn1-x films. Science Advances 6, eabc1977  (2020)
  • N. P. Armitage and Liang Wu. On the matter of topological insulators as magneto-electrics. SciPost Phys. 6, 046 (2019) 
  • S. Patankar, Liang Wu, B. Z. Lu, M. Rai, J. D. Tran, T. Morimoto, D. Parker, A. Grushin, N. L. Nair, J. G. Analytis, J. E. Moore, J. Orenstein, D. H. Torchinsky " Resonance-enhanced optical nonlinearity in the Weyl semimetal TaAs"  Phys. Rev. B 98, 165113 (2018)
  • Liang Wu*, A. Little, E. E. Aldape, D. Rees, E. Thewalt, P. Lampen-Kelley, A. Banerjee, C. A. Bridges, J.-Q. Yan, D. Boone, S. Patankar, D. Goldhaber-Gordo, D. Mandrus, S. E. Nagler, E. Altman, and J. Orenstein "Field evolution of magnons in α-RuCl3 by high-resolution polarized terahertz spectroscopy" Phys. Rev. B 98, 094425 (2018)
  • T. Higo, H. Man, D. B. Gopman, Liang Wu, Y. P. Kabanov, O. M. J. van’t Erve, D. Rees, Y. F. Li, S. Patankar, M. Ikhlas, C. L. Chien, R. D. Shull, J. Orenstein, and S. Nakatsuji. Large magneto-optical Kerr effect and imaging of magnetic octupole domains in an antiferromagnetic metal. Nature Photonics. 12, 73-78 (2018)
  • A. Little†, Liang Wu,*,P. Kelley, A. Banerjee, D. Mandrus, S. Nagler and J. Orenstein. Antiferromagnetic resonance and terahertz continuum in α−RuCl3. Phys. Rev. Lett.  119, 227201 (2017)
  • Liang Wu*, S. Patankar, T. Morimoto, N. L. Nair, E. Thewalt, A. Little, J. Analytis, J. E. Moore and J. W. Orenstein. Giant anisotropic nonlinear optical response in transition metal monopnictide Weyl semimetals. Nature Physics 13, 350-355 (2017)
  • Liang Wu*, M. Salehi, N. Koirala, J. Moon, S. Oh and N. P. Armitage. Quantized Faraday and Kerr rotation and axion electrodynamics of a 3D topological insulator. Science 354, 1124-1127 (2016) 
  • Liang Wu*, W. K. Tse, M. Brahlek, C. M. Morris, R. Valdes Aguilar, N. Koirala, S. Oh and N. P. Armitage. High-resolution Faraday rotation and electron-phonon coupling in surface states of the bulk-insulating topological insulator Cu0.02Bi2Se3. Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 217602 (2015)
  • Liang Wu, M. Brahlek, R. Valdes Aguilar, A. V. Stier, C. M. Morris, Y. Lubashevsky, L. S. Bilbro, N. Bansal, S. Oh, N. P. Armitage. A sudden collapse in transport lifetime through the topological phase transition in (Bi1−xInx)2Se3. Nature Physics 9, 410-414 (2013)
CV (file)