Green energy investigates various kinds of energy conversion and storage technologies and devices. It covers batteries, ferroelectric/dielectric materials for energy applications, down- and up-conversion phosphors for photovoltaics and lighting, triboelectric nanogenerators, metal-ion batteries and supercapacitors, organic photovoltaics, and perovskite solar cells. 

Carbon neutrality research develops new materials and processes that reduce CO₂ into energy-rich chemicals for practical uses. It includes electrochemical CO₂ conversion, electrocatalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, CO₂ capture, and utilization.

Machine learning builds models based on available sample data to make predictions and decisions on unexplored regions. In material science, machine learning has proved to have unprecedented abilities to find new stable materials, calculate numerous material properties, and speed up first-principle calculations. Our machine learning focuses on material component/structure discovery, material properties’ prediction, and physics-informed machine learning.

Computational physics studies various kinds of computational calculations, including:

• First-principles DFT, effective medium theory, molecular dynamics, analytical modeling, and numerical simulations; 

• To predict materials properties and structures for 2D materials, interfaces and heterostructures;

• Glass transition, flow of glassy polymer nanofilms; electron transport in solid-state quantum devices; formation of nanostructures in strained thin films;

• Machine learning and high-throughput calculations; photonic crystals, topological photonics, plasmonic nanostructures, metamaterials, transformation optics, optomechanics of structured nanomaterials, and phononic crystals.

Nanomaterials studies various kinds of low-dimensional materials for devices. The key focus of this area includes:

• Advanced materials synthesis

• Characterization techniques at the atomic scale, in-situ, and operando;

• Emerging devices such as memories for neuromorphic computing;

• Low-dimensional materials: quantum dots, nanowires, nanotubes, and two-dimensional materials;

• Micro/nanoelectronic devices; carbon-based electronics; nanomaterials for bioelectronics and flexible electronics.

Micro/Nanoelectronics research aims at advanced electronic devices whose functions rely on the structures and phenomena at the microscale and nanoscale. The focused areas include memristors, lasers, phototransistors, imaging devices, bioelectronic sensors, neuromorphic microelectronics, and 2D heterogeneous electronics.

This research theme studies cutting-edge materials and advanced devices that rely on photons, electrons, and their strong interaction with matter. It covers high-power mid-infrared lasers and white-light LEDs, photodetectors, biomimetic optical imaging, plasmonic nanostructures, plasmon-enhanced photocatalysis, optofluidics, artificial photosynthesis, micro-/nano-optics, biophotonics, ultrafast optical spectroscopy, linear/non-linear optical properties of semiconducting materials and devices. 

This research theme studies exceptional quantum properties of 2D materials and related van-der-Waals heterostructures and their applications. It focuses on quantum nanostructures, spintronics, magnetic semiconductor heterostructures, 2D electron gases, non-linear Hall effect, and 2D ferroelectrics.