What’s New

We are pleased to announce the HK Forum on Quantumology香港量子學論壇 , held in celebration of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ). The event is organized by the HK Institute of Quantum Science and Technology in collaboration with the HK Branch of the Quantum Science Centre of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Scheduled for 23 November 2025 at the Rysan Huang Theatre, of HKU, this event offers a distinguished platform for academic exchange, collaboration, and innovation in quantum science and technology. You are cordially invited to participate in a series of engaging activities, including keynote and invited talks, as well as roundtable discussions featuring leading quantum scientists. The event program includes: Please find tentative program: 09:00 – 09:20: Welcome Address 09:20 – 09:30: Inauguration Ceremony (HK Branch for QSC) 09:30 – 12:20: Key-note Presentations 14:00 – 16:30: Invited Talks 16:50 – 17:50: Round Table Discussion (An interactive forum for knowledge exchange and collaboration) Please register at no cost using the link below to secure your participation and receive additional event details. Kindly note that, due to the HKU visitor registration system, you will need to bring and present the confirmation email upon entry. We look forward to your valuable contribution to this landmark celebration of quantum science and technology. [Registration] For HKU members (HKU Portal login is required): https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?ueid=103117 For non-HKU members: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=103117

Discoveries of new superconductors with high transition temperatures have been a perpetual drive of condensed matter physics. In this talk, I attempt to give an overview on recent advances in this vibrant area, with some of own stories squeezed in. We start from predictive designs of freestanding or supported superconducting monolayers that may exhibit high-Tc superconductivity, as well as low-dimensional systems that display exotic Ising, chiral, or p-wave superconductivity. On the mechanistic side, I will demonstrate how plasmonic excitations or pronounced correlation effects can enhance the superconductivity of iron-based superconductors, and predict designer substrates that may optimize the strain in La3Ni2O7 thin films for maximally enhanced Tc.

Significant advances have been made in fundamental research of topological insulators (TIs), yet their device applications remain elusive. We propose an approach towards seamless integration of two-dimensional (2D) TIs into semiconductor devices. Using first-principles calculations, we show that heteroepitaxially grown III-V semiconductor ultrathin films can self-convert into 2D TIs. Remarkably, on GaSb(111) monolayer GaAs1-xBix becomes universally a 2D TI at any alloy concentration, x, enabled by natural formation of semiconductor heterojunctions. For the GaAs-rich monolayer, having type-II (III) band alignment with GaSb, an intriguing interfacial band offset inversion emerges between surface Ga-s and substrate Sb-p bands; for the GaBi-rich monolayer, with type-I (I’) alignment, the conventional intra-surface band gap inversion arises between Ga-s and Bi-p bands. The lattice-matching epitaxy of GaAs0.25Bi0.75 alloy enables growth of thin-film 2D TIs with a gap up to ~330 meV. Our findings pave the way to engineering wafer-scale large-gap 2D TIs to potentially operate at room temperature.