Biography

Jian Li is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Physics, Princeton University. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Northwest University, China, in 2002 and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Hong Kong in 2008. He joined the group of Markus Buttiker in University of Geneva, Switzerland, as a postdoctoral assistant in 2008, and then the group of B. Andrei Bernevig in Princeton University as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2013.

Research

Jian Li’s research focuses on condensed matter systems that exhibit nontrivial topological electronic properties. He discovered topological Anderson insulators during his Ph.D. study. He is currently interested in the physics of topological superconductivity and the associated Majorana quasi-particles, the latter being potentially useful to realize fault-tolerant quantum computing. Dr. Li, working together with a team of experimentalists based at Princeton University, discovered Majorana quasi-particles in iron chains grown atop superconducting lead. They provided compelling evidence for the observation of these long-sought-after, esoteric particles with scanning tunneling microscopes. Dr. Li developed a theoretical framework for an in-depth understanding of the system involving aligned magnetic adatoms and conventional superconductors, and further established such a system as a new platform to engineer topological superconductivity not only in one dimension but also in higher dimensions. Based on this platform, Dr. Li and his collaborators have made proposals that will hopefully reveal one of the most fascinating features, namely nonabelian braiding statistics, of Majorana quasi-particles in the near future.

Dr. Li received the 2016 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists Winner for recognition of his theoretical insight and guidance to the experimental studies leading to the direct observation of the Majorana fermions.

Representative Publications

1.  High-resolution studies of the Majorana atomic chain platform.Benjamin E. Feldman*, Mallika T. Randeria*, Jian Li*, Sangjun Jeon, Yonglong Xie, Zhijun Wang, Ilya K. Drozdov*, B. Andrei Bernevig, and Ali Yazdani .(*: equal contribution) Nature Physics 13, 286 (2017)

2.  Detection of Majorana Kramers Pairs Using a Quantum Point Contact.Jian Li, Wei Pan, B. Andrei Bernevig, and Roman M. Lutchyn. Physical Review Letters 117, 046804 (2016)

3.  Two-dimensional chiral topological superconductivity in Shiba lattices. Jian Li, Titus Neupert, Zhijun Wang, A. H. MacDonald, Ali Yazdani, and B. Andrei Bernevig. Nature Communications  7, 12297  (2016)

4.  Manipulating Majorana zero modes on atomic rings with an external magnetic field.

Jian Li, Titus Neupert, B. Andrei Bernevig, and Ali Yazdani. Nature Communications 7, 10395 (2016)

5.  Topological superconductivity induced by ferromagnetic metal chains. Jian Li*, Hua Chen*, Ilya K. Drozdov, Ali Yazdani, B. Andrei Bernevig, and A. H. MacDonald.   (*: equal contribution) Physical Review B 90, 235433 (2014)

6.  Observation of Majorana fermions in ferromagnetic atomic chains on a superconductor.Stevan Nadj-Perge*, Ilya K. Drozdov*, Jian Li*, Hua Chen*, Sangjun Jeon, Jungpil Seo, Allan H. MacDonald, B. Andrei Bernevig, and Ali Yazdani . (*: equal contribution) Science 346, 602 (2014)

7.  Topological origin of subgap conductance in insulating bilayer graphene. Jian Li, Ivar Martin, Markus Büttiker, and Alberto F. Morpurgo. Nature Physics 7, 38 (2011)

8.  Topological Anderson insulator. Jian Li, Rui-Lin Chu, J. K. Jain, and Shun-Qing Shen.Physical Review Letters 102, 136806 (2009)