Jiun-Haw Chu: Nematicity in Iron-Based Superconductors and Beyond

Jiun-Haw Chu

Department of Physics

University of Washington, Seattle

Abstract: Electronic nematicity refers to a self-organized electronic state that breaks rotational symmetry without long range translational order. In the iron-based superconductors, the nematic transition temperature can be continuously tuned by doping and pressure, which extrapolates to a nematic quantum critical point as the superconducting Tc is tuned to optimal. In this talk, I will present a series of strain experiments that show the superconducting pairing in this class of material is primarily driven by the nematic quantum fluctuations. I will also discuss the presence and absence of nematicity in materials beyond iron-based superconductors, such as kagome metals.

Bio: Prof. Jiun-Haw Chu works in experimental condensed matter physics. His primary research goals are directed towards discovery and understanding of novel collective behaviors in quantum materials. Prof. Chu obtained his B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering from National Chiao Tung University in 2004, and his Ph.D. degree in Applied Physics from Stanford University in 2012. He did his postdoctoral works at University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University. In 2016 he joined the faculty of University Washington, where he is now an Associate Professor of Physics. Prof. Chu received a Yong Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and a Moore Fellowship in Material Synthesis in 2017, was named a Sloan Research Fellow and a Packard Fellow in Science and Engineering in 2018 and received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2019.