• BS, Physics, Nanjing University, China – 2007
• MS, Physics, University of Minnesota – 2012
• PhD, Physics, University of Minnesota – 2016

Condensed Matter Experiment

Superconductivity, Spintronics, Synthesis of quantum materials

We study how new quantum states emerge from the interplay of superconductivity, magnetism, spin-orbit coupling, electronic correlations and broken symmetries. A central goal is to discover material platforms in which these interactions can be deliberately controlled. Such control provides a way to create and manipulate electronic states that are difficult to realize in conventional bulk materials.

Our group combines molecular beam epitaxy with low-temperature quantum transport and device-based measurements. We use atomic-scale synthesis to design interfaces and control crystal symmetry. Electrostatic gating and strain provide additional ways to tune electronic states. Magnetic exchange offers a distinct handle for probing and modifying superconductivity and spin-dependent phenomena. By connecting these controlled perturbations with transport measurements, we seek to identify the microscopic mechanisms responsible for emergent quantum behavior.

One major direction concerns superconducting electron gases at polar oxide interfaces. These systems combine strong spin-orbit coupling, low dimensionality and broken inversion symmetry, providing an ideal setting for studying unconventional superconductivity and spin textures. We are particularly interested in how symmetry and magnetic exchange reshape these states and whether they can reveal new forms of superconducting order.

A second direction explores rare-earth intermetallic thin films and related correlated quantum materials. In these systems, competing magnetic and electronic interactions can produce complex phase diagrams, nonlinear transport and unconventional responses. Thin-film synthesis gives us new ways to control these phenomena through dimensionality, strain, interfaces and symmetry.

More broadly, we seek to uncover principles that connect microscopic interactions and symmetry to macroscopic quantum behavior. At the same time, we aim to establish experimentally controllable materials platforms that may enable new approaches to superconducting, spin-based and quantum technologies.

• Post-Doctoral Travel Awards, American Physical Society, 2019
• Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Finance Students Abroad, 2016

• J. Yang*, C. Liu*, X. Zhou, H. Hou, K. Yin, J. Wen, J. Pearson, A. Suslov, D. Jin, J. S. Jiang, U. Welp, J.-M. Zuo, M. R. Norman and A. Bhattacharya, “Uniaxial spin texture in a superconducting electron gas revealed by exchange interactions,” Science Advances 12, eaeb1601 (2026).
• Y. Li, C. Liu, H. Zheng, J. S. Jiang, Z. Zhu, X. Yan, H. Cao, K. V. L. V. Narayanachari, B. Paudel, K. P. Koirala, Z. Zhang, B. Fisher, H. Wang, E. Karapetrova, C. Sun, S. Kelly, D. Phelan, Y. Du, B. Buchholz, J. F. Mitchell, A. Bhattacharya, D. D. Fong and H. Zhou, “On the topotactic phase transition achieving superconducting infinite-layer nickelates,” Advanced Materials 36, 2402484 (2024).
• L. Zhang*, C. Liu*, H. Cao*, A. J. Erwin, D. D. Fong, A. Bhattacharya, L. Yu, L. Stan, C. Zou, M. V. Tirrell, H. Zhou and W. Chen, “Redox gating for colossal carrier modulation and unique phase control,” Advanced Materials 36, e2308871 (2024).
• C. Liu, X. Zhou, D. Hong, B. Fisher, H. Zheng, J. Pearson, J. S. Jiang, D. Jin, M. R. Norman and A. Bhattacharya, “Tunable superconductivity and its origin at KTaO₃ interfaces,” Nature Communications 14, 951 (2023).
• C. Liu*, Y. Luo*, D. Hong, S.-L. Zhang, H. Saglam, Y. Li, Y. Lin, B. Fisher, J. E. Pearson, J. S. Jiang, H. Zhou, J. Wen, A. Hoffmann and A. Bhattacharya, “Electric field control of magnon spin currents in an antiferromagnetic insulator,” Science Advances 7, eabg1669, (2021).
• C. Liu*, Xi Yan*, D. Jin, Y. Ma, H.-W. Hsiao, Y. Lin, T. B.-Sullivan, X. Zhou, J. Pearson, B. Fisher, J. S. Jiang, W. Han, J.-M. Zuo, J. Wen, D. D. Fong, J. Sun, H. Zhou and A. Bhattacharya, “Two-dimensional superconductivity and anisotropic transport at KTaO₃ (111) interfaces,” Science, 371, 716–721 (2021).
• C. Liu, V. F. C. Humbert, T. B.-Sullivan, G. Wang, D. Hong, F. Wrobel, J. Zhang, J. D. Hoffman, J. E. Pearson, J. S. Jiang, C. Chang, A. Suslov, N. Mason, M. R. Norman and A. Bhattacharya, “Observation of an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point in high-purity LaNiO₃,” Nature Communications 11, 1402 (2020).
• C. Liu, F. Wrobel, J. D. Hoffman, D. Hong, J. E. Pearson, E. Benckiser and A. Bhattacharya, “Counter-thermal flow of holes in high-mobility LaNiO₃ thin films,” Physical Review B 99, 041114 (2019), Rapid Communications.
• C. Liu*, S. M. Wu*, J. E. Pearson, J. S. Jiang, N. d’Ambrumenil and A. Bhattacharya, “Probing short-range magnetic order in a geometrically frustrated magnet by means of the spin Seebeck effect,” Physical Review B 98, 060415 (2018), Rapid Communications, Editor’s suggestion.
• C. Liu, S. J. Patel, T. A. Peterson, C. C. Geppert, K. D. Christie, G. Stecklein, C. J. Palmstrøm and P. A. Crowell, “Dynamic detection of spin accumulation in ferromagnet-semiconductor devices using ferromagnetic resonance,” Nature Communications 7, 10296 (2016).
• C. Liu, Y. Boyko, C. C. Geppert, K. D. Christie, G. Stecklein, S. J. Patel, C. J. Palmstrøm and P. A. Crowell, “Electrical detection of ferromagnetic resonance in ferromagnet/n-GaAs heterostructures by tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance,” Applied Physics Letters 105, 212401 (2014), Cover article.