Wenjin Zhao

Biography

Wenjin Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Washington, where his research centered on quantum transport in atomically thin WTe₂, a material that hosts exotic topological states. As a Kavli Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University, he investigated emergent quantum phenomena in two-dimensional moiré materials.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Washington, 2020
• B.S.,  University of Science and Technology of China, 2014

Areas of Expertise and Research Interests

• 2D quantum materials
• Correlated electron physics
• Topological physics

Selected Publications

1. W. Zhao, B. Shen, Z. Tao, Z. Han, K. Kang, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, K. F. Mak, J. Shan, “Gate-tunable heavy fermions in a moiré Kondo lattice”, Nature 616, 61-65 (2023)
2. W. Zhao*, B. Shen*, Z. Tao*, S. Kim, P. Knüppel, Z. Han, Y. Zhang, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, D. Chowdhury, J. Shan, K. F. Mak, “Emergence of ferromagnetism at the onset of moiré Kondo breakdown”, Nature Physics 20, 1772-1777 (2024)
3. W. Zhao, Z. Fei, T. Song, H. Choi, T. Palomaki, B. Sun, P. Malinowski, M. A. McGuire, J. H. Chu, X. Xu, D. H. Cobden, “Magnetic proximity and nonreciprocal current switching in a monolayer WTe₂ helical edge”, Nature Materials 19, 503-507 (2020).
4. W. Zhao*, K. Kang*, Y. Zhang, P. Knüppel, Z. Tao, L. Li, C. Tschirhart, E. Redekop, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, A. Young, J. Shan, K. F. Mak, “Realization of the Haldane Chern insulator in a moiré lattice”, Nature Physics 20, 275-280 (2024)
5. W. Zhao*, E. Runburg*, Z. Fei, J. Mutch, P. Malinowski, B. Sun, X. Huang, D. Pesin, Y.-T. Cui, X. Xu, J.-H. Chu, D. H. Cobden, “Determination of the spin axis in quantum spin Hall insulator candidate monolayer WTe₂", Physical Review X 11, 041034 (2021).