Jifa Tian
University of Wyoming, WY·Physics
Materials that are only a few atoms thick behave in ways thick crystals do not, and that difference may matter for how future computers are built. The focus here is on two classes of such materials: two-dimensional magnets, in which magnetism survives down to a handful of atomic layers, and two-dimensional superconductors, which carry current without resistance.
- Fields
Physics
Materials Science
Engineering
- Topics
two-dimensional materials
van der Waals magnets
magnetic domains
- Grants
- 3 known grants, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Determine the roles and behavior of unconventional magnetic domains, regions where atomic magnetic moments align, in few-layer two-dimensional van der Waals magnets using magnetotransport and low-temperature magnetic force microscopy.
- Manipulate metastable magnetic phase transitions within these domains and identify the mechanisms behind magnetic switching, combining spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy with theoretical modeling and first-principles calculations.
- Evaluate whether few-layer van der Waals magnets can serve as atomic-scale probabilistic bits (p-bits), building blocks proposed for energy-efficient probabilistic computers, through nanofabrication of test devices.
- Design, fabricate and characterize superconducting qubits built entirely from two-dimensional materials, aiming for higher fidelity and longer coherence times than conventional superconducting qubits.
- Fabricate and measure two-dimensional superconducting Josephson junctions, thin barriers between superconductors that form the core of a superconducting qubit, with qubit training at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory test beds.
- Develop methods to tune the coupling between electronic, structural and topological degrees of freedom in atomically thin topological superconductors.
- Design and fabricate topological Josephson junction architectures and model the physics of topological superconductivity and Majorana fermions, excitations that are their own antiparticles, in the two-dimensional limit.
More about the research
Both are van der Waals materials, meaning they come as layered crystals whose sheets are held together weakly enough that single layers can be peeled off and restacked. Across three projects the lab studies how magnetic order and superconductivity behave at this atomic limit, and whether they can be harnessed for new kinds of computing hardware, while also building quantum information research and teaching capacity at the University of Wyoming.
Why it matters
Conventional computing is running into limits on energy use, and quantum computers are limited by noise that wipes out stored information. Magnets and superconductors made from atomically thin van der Waals crystals could provide more energy-efficient magnetic memory and logic, probabilistic bits for a different style of computing, and qubits with longer-lived quantum states. The topological work could inform routes to error-resistant quantum computing. The projects also build quantum research training and degree programs in a rural state.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
ExpandQISE: Track 2: Developing Research and Education Programs in Quantum Information Science and Engineering with Research on Locally Tunable 2D Topological Superconductors
NSF · Sep 2022 – Aug 2027
Collaborative Research: Exploring Metastable Magnetic States in Unconventional Magnetic Domains of Two-dimensional van der Waals Magnets
NSF · Aug 2024 – Jul 2027
RII Track-4:NSF: Exploring van der Waals Superconducting Josephson Junctions for Robust Qubits
NSF · Jan 2024 – Dec 2026
Closest labs
Seongshik Oh
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Materials Science
Grow wafer-scale van der Waals heterostructures pairing the room-temperature 2D ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2 with topological materials Bi2Te3 or WTe2, using molecular beam epitaxy to achieve atomically sharp interfaces.
Chunhui Du
Georgia Institute of Technology, GA·Physics·Early-career
Determine how spin spreads through antiferromagnetic insulators and how their alternating Néel order switches, by imaging local magnetic fields with nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond.
Yves Idzerda
Montana State University, MT·Physics
Build robotic pipelines that automate the slowest steps of making and assembling devices from 2D materials, connected directly to quantum characterization instruments developed with industry partners.
The school
University of Wyoming: 8 labs on PI Pages, $167M a year on research, 108 research doctorates a year.
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