Richen Xiong
PhD Candidate in Physics
I am an experimental physicist exploring emergent phenomena in quantum materials through light-matter interactions. I leverage spectroscopic techniques across the electromagnetic spectrum from microwave to ultrafast optical spectroscopy. My research investigates how many-body interactions give rise to novel states of matter from a dynamical perspective. I’ll be starting as an HQI Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University in Fall 2026.
Experience
Graduate Student Researcher
UCSB Physics Department
- Investigated quantum phases of correlated electrons and excitons in Prof. Chenhao Jin’s lab, collaborating closely with Prof. Andrea Young and Prof. Leon Balents.
- Designed and built a novel spatiotemporal imaging system to visualize quantum dynamics in 2D moiré materials.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Peking University, Spintronics Lab
- Studied spin transport in magnetic thin films.
Visiting Student
Weizmann Institute of Science
- Investigated superconducting properties of disordered InO$_x$ thin films in Prof. Dan Shahar’s lab.
Education
Ph.D. in Physics
University of California, Santa Barbara
- Research focus: Strongly correlated physics, superconductivity and magnetism in 2D moiré materials; Ultrafast optical spectroscopy.
- Advisor: Prof. Chenhao Jin.
- Honors: UCSB Quantum Foundry Graduate Traineeship Fellow. UCSB Worster Summer Research Fellowship.
B.S. in Physics
Peking University, Beijing
- Research focus: Superconducting and magnetic thin films; Spintronics.
- Advisor: Prof. Wei Han.
Selected Publications
Propagating Neutral Modes in an Intervalley Coherent State.
Nature Physics (in press).
Optical imaging of flavor order in flat band graphene.
Nature Communications, 16, 5555 (2025).
Tunable transient valley-pseudospin orders in a moiré Bose-Hubbard model.
Nature Communications 15, 4254 (2024).
Correlated insulator of excitons in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices.
Science, 380, 860-864 (2023).