Zhi-Xun Shen

Weyl semimetals, characterized by topologically nontrivial band structures, exhibit unconventional transport properties and hold great promise for next-generation electronic devices. When reduced to the nanoscale, the contribution from the topological surface states becomes markedly enhanced, leading to unusual resistivity scaling behaviors. However, the synthesis of nanosized single-crystalline Weyl semimetals remains limited, hindering in-depth investigations of size-dependent transport phenomena. Here, we introduce a novel vapor-liquid-liquid-solid (VLLS) synthesis method for the growth of high-quality single-crystalline NbP nanowires with small diameters and controllable orientations. The VLLS process enables the stable and precise crystallization of NbP guided by Au seeds, favoring growth along the a axis, which has intrinsically lower resistivity. Room-temperature electrical measurements reveal a pronounced decrease in resistivity with decreasing diameter, indicating surface-dominant transport. We achieve a high breakdown current density of 116 MA cm ^–2 , comparable to that of copper nanowires, and a low resistivity of 21 µΩ cm at ~ 30 nm equivalent diameter, surpassing bulk NbP and many other semimetals. The dominance of topological surface states in charge transport is strongly supported by scanning microwave impedance microscopy measurements and simulations. The VLLS synthesis of NbP nanowires thus not only offers a pathway for precise structural control of Weyl semimetals but also opens new opportunities to tune their transport properties and enable advanced technological applications.

Unconventional superconductivity typically emerges out of a strongly correlated normal state, manifesting as a highly renormalised Fermi liquid or a strange metal with T-linear resistivity. In Ruddlesden-Popper bilayer nickelates, superconductivity with a critical temperature T_c exceeding 80 and 40 K has been respectively realised in pressurised bulk crystals and epitaxially strained thin films. These advancements call for the characterisation of fundamental normal-state and superconducting parameters in these new materials platforms of high-T_c superconductivity. Here we report detailed magnetotransport experiments on superconducting La₂PrNi₂O₇ (LPNO) thin films under pulsed magnetic fields up to 64 T and access the normal-state behaviour over a wide temperature range between 1.5 and 300 K. We find that the normal state of thin-film LPNO exhibits the hallmarks of Fermi-liquid transport, including T² temperature dependence of resistivity and Hall angle, and H² magnetoresistance obeying Kohler scaling. Using the empirical Kadowaki-Woods ratio, we estimate a quasiparticle effective mass m^*/m_e ≃ 10, thereby revealing the highly renormalised Fermi liquid state therein. Our results demonstrate that thin-film LPNO follows the same T_c/T_F scaling observed across a myriad of strongly correlated superconductors and establish key normal-state characteristics of strained bilayer superconducting nickelates.

Excitons in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) possess intriguing optical properties, drawing interest for both technology and fundamental research. However, as the demands for nanodevice applications and the exploration of fundamental physics push toward smaller, subwavelength scales, studying them locally is challenging. In this work, we introduce a cryogenic scanning probe photoelectrical sensing technique, termed exciton-resonant microwave impedance microscopy (ER-MIM), to measure the excitonic responses in a monolayer MoSe₂ device at 1.5K. From the microwave signal changes, we identify exciton polarons and their Rydberg states. Building on these observations, we systemically reveal the local and nonlocal effects of carrier density, inhomogeneous electric fields, as well as dielectric screening on excitons, beyond the reach of conventional probes. By further integrating deep learning techniques, we precisely extracted the electrical parameters surrounding excitons, demonstrating a quantified, exciton-assisted nanoscale electrometry. Our results provide new insight into exciton-environment interactions, establish ER-MIM as a powerful optoelectronic sensing platform, and open avenues for exciton-based quantum control and device technologies.

While the superconducting transition temperature of hole-doped Ba_{1-x}K_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2} decreases past optimal doping, superconductivity does not completely disappear even for the fully doped KFe_{2}As_{2} compound. In fact, superconductivity is robust through a Lifshitz transition where electron bands become hole-like around the zone corner at around x=0.7, thus challenging the conventional understanding of superconductivity in iron-based systems. High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy is used to investigate the superconducting gap structure, as well as the normal state electronic structure, around optimal doping and across the Lifshitz transition. Our findings reveal a largely orbital-dependent superconducting gap structure, where the more strongly correlated d_{xy} band has a vanishing superconducting gap at higher doping, aligning with the Hund's metal behavior observed in the normal state. Notably, the superconducting gap on the d_{xy} band disappears before the Lifshitz transition, suggesting that the Fermi surface topology may play a secondary role. We discuss how these results point to orbital-selective superconducting pairing and how strong correlations via Hund's coupling may shape superconducting gap structures in iron-based and other multiorbital superconductors.

2D van der Waals ferromagnets hold immense promise for spintronic applications due to their controllability and versatility. Despite their significance, the realization and in-depth characterization of ferromagnetic materials in atomically thin single layers, close to the true 2D limit, has been scarce. Here, a successful synthesis of monolayer (ML) 1T-CrTe2 is reported on a bilayer graphene (BLG) substrate via molecular beam epitaxy. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements, that the ferromagnetic transition is observed at the Curie temperature (TC) of 150 K in ML 1T-CrTe2 on BLG, accompanied by unconventional temperature-dependent band evolutions. The spectroscopic analysis and first-principle calculations reveal that the ferromagnetism may arise from Goodenough-Kanamori super-exchange and double-exchange interactions, enhanced by the lattice distortion and the electron doping from the BLG substrate. These findings provide pivotal insight into the fundamental understanding of mechanisms governing 2D ferromagnetism and offer a pathway for engineering higher TC in 2D materials for future spintronic devices.

Twisted bilayer MoTe$_2$ (tMoTe$_2$) is an emergent platform for exploring exotic quantum phases driven by the interplay between nontrivial band topology and strong electron correlations. Direct experimental access to its momentum-resolved electronic structure is essential for uncovering the microscopic origins of the correlated topological phases therein. Here, we report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements of tMoTe$_2$, revealing pronounced twist-angle-dependent band reconstruction shaped by orbital character, interlayer coupling, and moiré potential modulation. Density functional theory (DFT) captures the qualitative evolution, yet underestimates key energy scales across twist angles, highlighting the importance of electronic correlations. Notably, the hole effective mass at the K point exhibits a non-monotonic dependence on twist angle, peaking near 2°, consistent with band flattening at the magic angle predicted by continuum models. Via electrostatic gating and surface dosing, we further visualize the evolution of electronic structure versus doping, enabling direct observation of the conduction band minimum and confirm tMoTe$_2$ as a direct band gap semiconductor. These results establish a spectroscopic foundation for modeling and engineering emergent quantum phases in this moiré platform.