Long Ju joined the MIT Physics Department as an assistant professor in January 2019. He received his B.S. in Physics in 2009 from Tsinghua University, China, and his Ph.D. in Physics in 2015 from the University of California, Berkeley. He then moved to Cornell University, where he was a Kavli postdoctoral fellow until December 2018.
Research in Professor Long Ju’s lab focuses on understanding light-matter interactions in novel quantum materials. Of particular interest are atomically thin materials and van der Waals hetero-structures of them. These materials host a variety of fascinating electronic and optical properties individually, and they offer exciting opportunities to explore possibilities enabled by controlling the stacking order and electrically tuning the band structure and charge doping. Especially, such materials provide a new platform to design and engineer more exotic quantum phenomena when electron correlations and topology are included. We develop problem-oriented experiments by employing various optical spectroscopy and microscopy tools in a broad spectrum range from UV to THz. Ultrafast optical techniques and scanning probe optical microscopy will be utilized to study dynamical properties on a time scale down to femtoseconds and a spatial resolution of nanometers. Most importantly, device fabrication and application of electric and magnetic fields will be combined to achieve external control of material properties.