Motivated by technological challenges, our group investigates heat and charge transport and develops advanced materials, interfaces, and devices. We connect transport physics and structural chemistry with electronic devices, biomedical sensors, energy technologies, and thermal management for advanced packaging and AI hardware.
We combine chemical synthesis and nanoscale metrology with first-principles theory and AI-assisted modeling to understand energy transport and develop new material capabilities.
Our research has established new benchmarks for heat conduction across semiconductor and metallic materials. We pioneered the synthesis of high-quality boron arsenide single crystals and demonstrated an ultrahigh room-temperature thermal conductivity of approximately 1300 W/(m·K) [Science 361, 575 (2018) · Download PDF]. Extending this effort to metallic materials, we demonstrated approximately 1100 W/(m·K) in θ-phase tantalum nitride—nearly three times that of copper [Science 391, 707 (2026) · Download PDF].
Together, these discoveries advance the experimental limits of thermal conductivity and create opportunities for semiconductor cooling, power electronics, advanced packaging, and energy technologies.
Working with collaborators, we demonstrated an electrically gated, three-terminal molecular thermal switch that continuously and reversibly regulates heat flow. This advance connects molecular interface engineering with active thermal management and thermal circuit design.
Switching speeds above 1 MHz · thermal conductance modulation above 1300% · more than one million switching cycles.
We synthesize thermal conductors and engineer interfaces that connect exceptional material properties with heat dissipation in semiconductor devices and electronic packaging.
Explore publications →We investigate how phonon interactions, crystal symmetry, and nonequilibrium processes govern heat flow, and develop approaches for directional transport and electrically controlled thermal switching.
Explore publications →We connect the structure and chemistry of low-dimensional materials with electronic and thermal behavior, including intercalation, interface anisotropy, and twist-controlled phonon transport.
Explore publications →We develop optical and thermal measurement approaches that resolve transport beyond bulk averages, from phonon spectral contributions to anisotropic heat conduction and nanoscale temperature patterns.
Explore publications →We develop first-principles and AI-assisted approaches to understand microscopic transport mechanisms and guide materials discovery. Our research investigates higher-order phonon anharmonicity, isotope-induced vibrational phenomena, ultrahigh thermal conductivity, and hydrodynamic phonon transport.
Explore publications →We develop and investigate materials for thermoelectric energy conversion, waste-heat recovery, thermal insulation, and energy-efficient systems, connecting transport properties with manufacturable material architectures.
Explore publications →Our interdisciplinary research extends materials and measurement approaches to antimicrobial structures and biological imaging. Related reviews examine chemical imaging, AI-assisted processing, and vaccine-adjuvant research.
Explore publications →Our research spans electronic transport, charge sensing, spin-qubit dynamics, and room-temperature phonon control. The selected papers below connect low-dimensional materials and device engineering with quantum and nanoscale transport phenomena.
Explore publications →Our BAs research connects crystal synthesis and ultrahigh thermal conductivity with thermal interfaces, GaN device integration, high-pressure transport, and room-temperature phonon focusing.