IN-PERSON EVENT - REGISTER HERE to attend

By Dr Elisa Shuoying Yang, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen (China)

Abstract: Quantum interference phenomena in superconductors, such as Josephson interference and Little-Parks oscillations, serve as powerful probes of phase coherence, symmetry breaking and vortex dynamics. The resulting interference patterns can encode rich information about topological states, magnetism, and other intrinsic properties of materials placed in close proximity to a superconducting system or the superconductor itself.

In this talk, I will present three examples illustrating how superconducting interference can be used to uncover novel physical phenomena in quantum materials. In one example, spin-polarized supercurrents are engineered through the superconducting proximity effect, revealing spatially localized topological edge states via Josephson interference patterns [1]. In another, an orbital-magnetic Josephson junction and a zero-field superconducting diode effect are realized in fully gate-defined magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene [2]. In the last part, I will discuss how superconducting interference provides new insights into two-dimensional superconductors within the superconducting fluctuation regime [3].

[1] Science Advances 9, eadg7269 (2023)

[2] Nature Communications 14, 2396 (2023)

[3] Physical Review Letters, 136, 146301 (2026)

Short bio: Dr Elisa Shuoying Yang received her Bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College in 2014 and her Master’s degree from Columbia University in 2016. In 2020, she obtained her Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Germany. Subsequently, she moved to Spain and conducted postdoctoral research at ICFO and ICN2. Since November 2023, she has joined the Department of Physics at the Southern University of Science and Technology as an assistant professor. Her current interests involve around topological quantum states of matter, magnetism, unconventional superconductivity, and the interactions among them. By utilizing various forms of van der Waals materials, stacking order, and novel designs, her group engineers and probes exotic quantum states of matter by low-temperature quantum transport techniques. 

Hosted by ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader Sergio O. Valenzuela, Physics and Engineering of Nanodevices at ICN2.