About

Dr. Xiang Zhang is an Assistant Research Professor in Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University. He completed his B.S. in Applied Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), where he initiated his research on graphene synthesis. He earned his Ph.D. at Rice University under the guidance of Prof. Pulickel M. Ajayan, focusing on the study of two-dimensional nanomaterials. Dr. Zhang’s research includes the synthesis, characterization, and applications of two-dimensional nanomaterials and their heterostructures. He also focuses on diamond growth through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and exploring a range of diamond applications across various fields. His recent work involves the development of advanced plasma techniques for sustainable materials and decarbonization, such as carbon growth, metal refining, and battery waste recycling.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Optoelectronics
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Physics
• Composite material
• Nanotechnology
• Condensed matter physics
• Crystallography
• Optics
• Thermodynamics

Selected publications

• Halide perovskites enable polaritonic XY spin Hamiltonian at room temperature

  Nature Materials · 2022 · 84 citations

  • Condensed matter physics
  • Materials science
  • Optoelectronics
  DOI

• Recent Progress on Two-Dimensional Materials

  Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica · 2021 · 454 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  DOI

• Enhanced ferroelectricity in ultrathin films grown directly on silicon

  Nature · 2020 · 871 citations

  • Materials science
  • Optoelectronics
  • Nanotechnology
  DOI

• A Thermal Radiation Modulation Platform by Emissivity Engineering with Graded Metal–Insulator Transition

  Advanced Materials · 2020 · 143 citations

  • Materials science
  • Optoelectronics
  • Optics

  dependence; hence, thermal radiance from the surface becomes temperature-independent, allowing the fabrication of flexible and power-free infrared camouflage with unique advantage in performance stability. The structure is based on thin films of tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide where the tungsten fraction is judiciously graded across a thickness less than the skin depth of electromagnetic screening.

  DOI

Recent grants

• III: Medium: Collaborative Research: Toward Robust and Scalable Discovering of Significant Associations in Massive Genetic Data

  NSF · $500k · 2012–2017

• III: Medium: Collaborative Research: Toward Robust and Scalable Discovering of Significant Associations in Massive Genetic Data

  NSF · $123k · 2016–2018

• Materials World Network: Classical and Quantum Optical Metamaterials by Combining Top-down and Bottom-up Fabrication Techniques

  NSF · $450k · 2012–2017

• EAGER: Advancing High-Efficiency Nanoscale Antiferromagnetic Spintronics with Two-Dimensional Half Metals

  NSF · $100k · 2017–2020

• INSPIRE Track 1: Exploring New Route of Optically Mediated Self-Assembly: Final Material Properties Determine Its Structures

  NSF · $800k · 2013–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Yuan Wang

  Jiangsu University

  406 shared

• Xiaobo Yin

  University of Hong Kong

  273 shared

• Guy Bartal

  124 shared

• Sui Yang

  119 shared

• Jie Yao

  University of Science and Technology of China

  99 shared

• Rupert F. Oulton

  Imperial College London

  99 shared

• Thomas Zentgraf

  Paderborn University

  94 shared

• Jun Xiao

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  90 shared

Labs

• Ajayan Research GroupPI

Education

• Ph. D., Mechanical Engineering

  University of California, Berkeley

  1996

• M. S.

  University of Minnesota

  1992

Similar researchers at Rice University

• Menachem Elimelechh-209
• Pulickel Ajayanh-204
• James Tourh-178
• Naomi J. Halash-173
• Frank Geurtsh-157