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 materials broadly known as ''quantum materials’’, which are topological and correlated 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 and quantum spin liquids.
Courses Taught
Phys 151: Principles of Physics II
Selected Publications
- 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. (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)
- 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)