Xue Qikun (Chinese: 薛其坤; pinyin: Xuē Qíkūn; born December 1963) is a Chinese physicist. He is a professor of Tsinghua University, Beijing. He has done much work in condensed matter physics, especially on superconductors and topological insulators.[1][2] In 2013, Xue was the first to achieve the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), an unusual orderly motion of electrons in a conductor, in his laboratory at Tsinghua University. Xue is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, vice president for research of Tsinghua University, and director of State Key Lab of Quantum Physics.[3] In 2016, he was one of the first recipients of the new Chinese Future Science Prize for experimental discovery of high-temperature superconductivity at material interfaces and the QAHE. This award has been described as "China's Nobel Prize".[4][5]
Xue pioneered high quality thin films of topological insulators and, in 2013, first achieved the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), at Tsinghua University. Nobel Laureate Chen-Ning Yang called this discovery "worthy of a Nobel Prize".[9]
Xue's current research aims at preparation of low-dimensional structures exhibiting pronounced quantum phenomena, and understanding of growth dynamics and quantum mechanical effects on solid surfaces and in thin films,[10] including:
atomic-scale probing of surface electronic and magnetic properties by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy
