Rate My Professor Jifa Tian

Jifa Tian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Wyoming, where he serves as Director of the Center for Quantum Information Science and Engineering (C-QISE). He joined the university in 2018 after completing postdoctoral research at Purdue University and serving as a guest researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg. Tian received his Ph.D. in 2009 from the Institute of Physics and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. His career focuses on experimental condensed matter physics, nanophysics, and nanotechnology, investigating novel electronic properties of quantum materials including graphene, three-dimensional topological insulators, two-dimensional materials, and their heterostructures for applications in quantum engineering.

Tian directs the Tian Research Lab, an experimental Quantum Materials and Devices Laboratory that probes exotic quantum properties in topological superconductors, two-dimensional van der Waals magnetic materials, and topological insulators. The lab employs top-down methods like mechanical exfoliation and dry transfer, alongside bottom-up techniques such as chemical vapor deposition, to fabricate high-quality quantum materials and structures. Advanced nanofabrication tools including electron beam lithography and photolithography, combined with cryogenic quantum transport and atomic/magnetic force microscopy, enable the design and testing of functional devices like qubits and spintronic components aimed at revolutionizing quantum computing and spintronics. As principal investigator, Tian has obtained significant funding, including a five-year $5 million NSF ExpandQISE Track 2 grant from 2022 to 2027 titled “Developing Research and Education Programs in Quantum Information Science and Engineering with Research on Locally Tunable 2D Topological Superconductors,” which supports research on topological qubits and education initiatives with Purdue University. He also leads a three-year $561,835 DOE grant from 2023 to 2026, “Manipulating the topology and superconductivity in 2M-phase WX2 (X = S and Se),” focusing on phase transitions and topological Josephson coupling. Tian's scholarly output includes publications in high-impact journals such as Nature Materials (2011: “Control and characterization of individual grains and grain boundaries in graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition,” 1,836 citations), Nature Physics (2014: “Observation of topological surface state quantum Hall effect in an intrinsic three-dimensional topological insulator,” 551 citations), Nature Communications (2019 and 2024), and Science Advances (2017 and 2022), amassing over 7,000 citations and an h-index of 34, underscoring his influence in quantum materials research.