Topological Materials
Yan Group
Dr. BINGHAI YAN
I am a condensed-matter physicist working on ab initio materials simulations. My recent research is focused on the design and prediction of exotic topological materials.
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In 2017, I join the Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Before I worked as a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany since 2012.
Upcoming Events
RESEARCH
​Topological Materials
Topological insulators and topological semimetals are both new classes of quantum materials, which are characterized by surface states induced by the topology of the bulk band structure. We have been working on predicting realistic materials for exotic topological phases and investigating their unique properties that can be measured by experiments, such as surface state spectra, quasiparticle interference and magneto-transport phenomena.
Berry phase
The Berry phase of the electronic wave function has a profound effect on material properties and is responsible for many important phenomena. Assisted by the development of ab initio calculations, we develop computational tools based on the Berry phase, anticipate and interpret interesting properties of real materials, for example, the surface Fermi arcs, anomalous Hall effect, spin Hall effect and optical properties.
Ab initio materials simulations​
The ab initio computational methods have been well developed in the past decades and demonstrated remarkable prediction power especially for predicting topological materials recently. With these computational tools, we aim to design materials for required physical properties, which is commonly supported by the insightful knowledge of chemistry.