Our research is driven by a simple but open-ended question: what new and interesting physics can emerge from the unique degrees of freedom offered by two-dimensional materials?
Rather than restricting ourselves to a particular material platform or a predefined class of phenomena, we seek to discover and explore new two-dimensional systems in which the material, structure, symmetry, topology, interactions, or their combinations give rise to unexpected physics. What makes a system “interesting” can take many forms, and an important part of our research is to continuously expand the definition of what constitutes an interesting two-dimensional quantum material.
Alongside this scientific exploration, we continuously broaden our experimental capabilities. Our work has evolved from mechanical exfoliation and van der Waals heterostructure assembly to twist engineering, controlled stacking of multilayer materials, growth of layered single crystals, and the development of new micro- and nanofabrication techniques. These capabilities allow us not only to study existing quantum materials, but also to construct material structures and quantum systems that do not readily occur in nature.
Several examples illustrate this research philosophy:
Band engineering by moiré superlattice
We use moiré superlattices to reconstruct the electronic structure of graphene and create narrow electronic bands, providing a highly tunable platform for exploring correlated and topological quantum states. In particular, we found a tunable moiré flat band and discovered a series of interesting electronic states in ABC-stacked graphene on the hBN moiré superlattice.
1. Nature Physics, 15, 237-241 (2019)
2. Nature, 572, 215-219 (2019)
3. Nature, 579, 56-61 (2020)
Realizing intrinsic flat bands through rhombohedral stacking
Moving beyond moiré engineering, we exploit the intrinsic stacking degree of freedom in multilayer graphene to realize naturally occurring flat bands within a crystalline material, enabling the study of interaction-driven phases without an artificial superlattice.
1. Nature Nanotechnology 19, 188–195 (2023)
2. Science 384, 414-419 (2024)
Exploring mixed-stacked graphene as a new quantum material platform
By combining different stacking sequences within the same multilayer graphene crystal, we create structures with reduced symmetries and qualitatively different electronic properties. These systems exhibit phenomena such as intrinsic layer polarization, multiple flat bands, and fractional quantum Hall states.
1. Nano Letters 26, 22, 7331–7338 (2026)
2. Nature Communications 17, 6380 (2026)
Building a new two-dimensional superconductor by stacking atomic layers
We extend stacking engineering beyond graphene and use controlled interlayer stacking to construct layered superconductors with crystal symmetries distinct from their conventional counterparts. This provides a route toward superconducting systems with new forms of spin–orbit coupling, broken inversion symmetry, and potentially unconventional superconducting phenomena.
1. arXiv:2601.16475
Together, these efforts reflect our broader goal at this moment: to use the structural freedom of two-dimensional materials as a toolbox for discovering, designing, and creating new quantum matter.