Zhou Lab at MarylandQuantum Materials and Optoelectronics Laboratory

Publications

Publications, newest first. The full publication list can also be found on Google Scholar.

* equal contribution · † corresponding author

Preprints

  1. Interlayer Fermi polarons in bilayer MoTe2R. Ni, E. Dizer, M. Wolf, S. T. Le, S. Jois, J. J. Schwartz, L. Gu, R. Ma, S. Park, B. Gao, L. Zhang, H. Jang, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, A. T. Hanbicki, A. L. Friedman, R. Schmidt and Y. Zhou†, arXiv:2609.38045, under review (2026).
  2. Interlayer dark excitons in a van der Waals heterostructureR. Ma, K. Davydov, L. Gu, L. Zhang, H. Alnatah, B. Gao, R. Ni, S. Park, H. Jang, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe and Y. Zhou†, arXiv:2609.38033, under review (2026).
  3. Tunable quantum emission from excitons confined through a 2D semiconductor–MOF heterostructureY. Zhu, R. Dziobek-Garrett, G. Na, M. Ohlrich, D. Mücke, S. Yu, A. Budarapu, A. Auslender, K. Kingsbury, Á. Escobar, V. Menon, D. C. Bell, Y. Zhou, H. L. Nourse, B. Powell, U. Kaiser, H.-G. Park and T. J. Kempa, under review (2026).
  4. Optical observation of interlayer spin correlationA. Park, P. Upadhyay, A. Grankin, E. Viñas Boström, M. Ghafariasl, H. Alnatah, M. Mohammadi-Arzanagh, G. Nambiar, B. Gao, A. Alvandi, S. R. Madhan Kumar, G. Alshalan, I. Sherwood, M. J. Mehrabad, Y. Zhou, A. Ramanathan, X. Roy, A. Rubio and M. Hafezi, arXiv:2609.38825, under review (2026).
  5. Materials for Quantum Information Science: Roles in the Quantum Evolution 2.0T. Pham, V. Ivanov, D. P. Goronzy, A. Devata, J. Feldon, D. Barton and Y. Zhou, arXiv:2609.09371, under review (2026).
  6. Phonon-mediated quantum coherence in NV− centers probed by second harmonic generationY. Xue, O. Kurt, Y. Wang, J. Shi, Y. Zhou and Y. Ren, ACS Photonics, in revision (2026).

Journal articles

2026

  1. Electronic crystals in layered materialsInvitedY. Zhou, I. Esterlis and T. Smoleński, npj 2D Materials and Applications 10, 79 (2026).
  2. Wigner polarons probe the dynamics of a Wigner crystal in a monolayer semiconductorL. Zhang, L. Gu, H. S. Adlong, A. Christianen, E. Dizer, R. Ni, R. Ma, S. Park, H. Jang, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, I. Esterlis, R. Schmidt, A. Imamoglu and Y. Zhou†, Nature Physics, published online (2026).Nature Physics News & ViewsPhys.orgMaryland Today
  3. Improved grain growth in large-area monolayer WX2 (X: S, Se) films through controlled reduction of tungstate precursorsP. D. Hanrahan, R. Dziobek-Garrett, P. M. Eckhert, C. Leiter, K. Kingsbury, K. Davydov, L. Gu, T. H. Brintlinger, S. B. Ambade, Y. Zhou and T. J. Kempa, Chemistry of Materials 38, 6227–6236 (2026).
  4. Giant enhancement of exciton diffusion near an electronic Mott insulatorP. Upadhyay, D. G. Suárez-Forero, T.-S. Huang, M. J. Mehrabad, B. Gao, S. Sarkar, D. Session, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, Y. Zhou, M. Knap and M. Hafezi, Science 391, 394–398 (2026).
  5. Probing quantum anomalous Hall states in twisted bilayer WSe2 via attractive polaron spectroscopyB. Gao, M. Ghafariasl, M. J. Mehrabad, T.-S. Huang, L. Zhang, D. Session, P. Upadhyay, R. Ma, G. Alshalan, D. G. Suárez-Forero, S. Sarkar, S. Park, H. Jang, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, M. Xie, Y. Zhou† and M. Hafezi†, Physical Review X 16, 021037 (2026).

2025

  1. Roadmap for Photonics with 2D MaterialsF. J. García de Abajo et al. (including Y. Zhou), ACS Photonics 12, 3961 (2025).
  2. Quantum confining excitons with an electrostatic moiré superlatticeL. Gu, L. Zhang, S. Felsenfeld, B. Gao, R. Ma, S. Park, H. Jang, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe and Y. Zhou†, Physical Review Letters 135, 026901 (2025).
  3. Nonlinear optics in 2D materials: from classical to quantumInvitedL. Gu and Y. Zhou†, Applied Physics Reviews 12, 011335 (2025).
  4. Sub-wavelength optical lattice in 2D materialsS. Sarkar*, M. J. Mehrabad*, D. G. Suárez-Forero*, L. Gu*, C. Flower, L. Xu, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, S. Park, H. Jang, Y. Zhou† and M. Hafezi†, Science Advances 11, eadv2023 (2025).
  5. An electronic microemulsion phase emerging from a quantum crystal-to-liquid transitionJ. Sung, J. Wang, I. Esterlis, P. A. Volkov, G. Scuri, Y. Zhou, E. Brutschea, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, Y. Yang, M. Morales, S. Zhang, A. J. Millis, M. D. Lukin, P. Kim, E. Demler and H. Park, Nature Physics 21, 437–443 (2025).

2024

  1. Giant optical nonlinearity of Fermi polarons in atomically thin semiconductorsL. Gu, L. Zhang, R. Ni, M. Xie, D. S. Wild, S. Park, H. Jang, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, M. Hafezi and Y. Zhou†, Nature Photonics 18, 816–822 (2024).Nature Photonics News & ViewsUMD MSE newsBrookhaven National LaboratoryDOE Office of Science highlight
  2. Electrical control and transport of tightly bound interlayer excitons in a MoSe2/hBN/MoSe2 heterostructureL. Zhang, L. Gu, R. Ni, M. Xie, S. Park, H. Jang, R. Ma, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe and Y. Zhou†, Physical Review Letters 132, 216903 (2024).
  3. Chiral flat-band optical cavity with atomically thin mirrorsD. G. Suárez-Forero*, R. Ni*, S. Sarkar*, M. J. Mehrabad*, E. Mechtel, V. Simonyan, A. Grankin, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, S. Park, H. Jang, M. Hafezi† and Y. Zhou†, Science Advances 10, eadr5904 (2024).
  4. Excitonic Mott insulator in a Bose-Fermi-Hubbard system of moiré WS2/WSe2 heterobilayerB. Gao, D. G. Suárez-Forero, S. Sarkar, T.-S. Huang, D. Session, M. J. Mehrabad, R. Ni, M. Xie, P. Upadhyay, J. Vannucci, S. Mittal, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, A. Imamoglu, Y. Zhou and M. Hafezi, Nature Communications 15, 2305 (2024).
  5. Controlled interlayer exciton ionization in an electrostatic trap in atomically thin heterostructuresA. Y. Joe, A. M. Mier Valdivia, L. A. Jauregui, K. Pistunova, D. Ding, Y. Zhou, G. Scuri, K. De Greve, A. Sushko, B. Kim, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, J. Hone, M. D. Lukin, H. Park and P. Kim, Nature Communications 15, 6743 (2024).

2023

  1. Ionic liquid gating induced insulating phase transition in LaNiO3 thin filmsR. Wang, J. Park, R. Pant, S. Maurya, S. Takeuchi, J. A. Dura, I. Takeuchi and Y. Zhou†, Physical Review Materials 7, 125001 (2023).
  2. Controlling quantum phases of electrons and excitons in moiré superlatticesInvitedL. Zhang, R. Ni and Y. Zhou†, Journal of Applied Physics 133, 080901 (2023).Selected as Feature Article

2022

  1. Beam steering at the nanosecond time scale with an atomically thin reflectorT. I. Andersen, R. J. Gelly, G. Scuri, B. L. Dwyer, D. S. Wild, R. Bekenstein, A. Sushko, J. Sung, Y. Zhou, A. A. Zibrov, X. Liu, A. Y. Joe, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, S. F. Yelin, P. Kim, H. Park and M. D. Lukin, Nature Communications 13, 3431 (2022).
  2. Nanoscale thermal imaging of VO2 via Poole-Frenkel conductionA. Spitzig, A. Pivonka, A. Frenzel, J. Kim, C. Ko, Y. Zhou, E. Hudson, S. Ramanathan, J. E. Hoffman and J. D. Hoffman, Applied Physics Letters 120, 151602 (2022).

2016–2021

  1. Bilayer Wigner crystals in a transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructureY. Zhou, J. Sung, E. Brutschea, I. Esterlis, Y. Wang, G. Scuri, R. J. Gelly, H. Heo, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, G. Zaránd, M. D. Lukin, P. Kim, E. Demler and H. Park, Nature 595, 48–52 (2021).Journal Club for Condensed Matter PhysicsQuanta MagazineUMD MSE newsHarvard GazettePhys.orgChemistry World
  2. Electrically controlled emission from singlet and triplet exciton species in atomically thin light emitting diodesA. Y. Joe, L. A. Jauregui, K. Pistunova, A. M. Mier Valdivia, Z. Lu, D. S. Wild, G. Scuri, K. De Greve, R. J. Gelly, Y. Zhou, J. Sung, A. Sushko, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, D. Smirnov, M. D. Lukin, H. Park and P. Kim, Physical Review B 103, L161411 (2021).
  3. Excitons in a reconstructed moiré potential in twisted WSe2/WSe2 homobilayersT. I. Andersen*, G. Scuri*, A. Sushko*, K. De Greve*, J. Sung, Y. Zhou, D. S. Wild, R. J. Gelly, H. Heo, D. Bérubé, A. Y. Joe, L. A. Jauregui, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, P. Kim, H. Park and M. D. Lukin, Nature Materials 20, 480 (2021).
  4. Controlling excitons in an atomically thin membrane with a mirrorY. Zhou, G. Scuri, J. Sung, R. J. Gelly, D. S. Wild, K. De Greve, A. Y. Joe, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, P. Kim, M. D. Lukin and H. Park, Physical Review Letters 124, 027401 (2020).Editors’ Suggestion
  5. Electrically tunable valley dynamics in twisted WSe2/WSe2 bilayersG. Scuri*, T. I. Andersen*, Y. Zhou*, D. S. Wild, J. Sung, R. J. Gelly, D. Bérubé, H. Heo, L. Shao, A. Y. Joe, A. M. Mier Valdivia, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, M. Lončar, P. Kim, M. D. Lukin and H. Park, Physical Review Letters 124, 217403 (2020).Nature Reviews Materials Research Highlight
  6. Broken mirror symmetry in excitonic response of reconstructed domains in twisted MoSe2/MoSe2 bilayersJ. Sung, Y. Zhou, G. Scuri, V. Zólyomi, T. I. Andersen, H. Yoo, D. S. Wild, A. Y. Joe, R. J. Gelly, H. Heo, S. J. Magorrian, D. Bérubé, A. M. Mier Valdivia, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, M. D. Lukin, P. Kim, V. I. Fal'ko and H. Park, Nature Nanotechnology 15, 750–754 (2020).Nature Nanotechnology News & Views
  7. Electrical control of interlayer exciton dynamics in atomically thin heterostructuresL. A. Jauregui, A. Y. Joe, K. Pistunova, D. S. Wild, A. A. High, Y. Zhou, G. Scuri, K. De Greve, A. Sushko, C. H. Yu, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, D. J. Needleman, M. D. Lukin, H. Park and P. Kim, Science 366, 870–875 (2019).
  8. Temperature-independent thermal radiationA. Shahsafi*, P. Roney*, Y. Zhou, Z. Zhang, Y. Xiao, C. Wan, R. Wambold, J. Salman, Z. Yu, J. Li, J. T. Sadowski, R. Comin, S. Ramanathan and M. A. Kats, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, 26402 (2019).DOE Office of Science highlightC&EN
  9. Liquid salt transport growth of single crystals of the layered dichalcogenides MoS2 and WS2F. A. Cevallos, S. Guo, H. Heo, G. Scuri, Y. Zhou, J. Sung, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, P. Kim, H. Park and R. J. Cava, Crystal Growth & Design 19, 5762–5767 (2019).
  10. Electrically tunable exciton-plasmon coupling in a WSe2 monolayer embedded in a plasmonic crystal cavityA. M. Dibos, Y. Zhou, L. A. Jauregui, G. Scuri, D. S. Wild, A. A. High, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, M. D. Lukin, P. Kim and H. Park, Nano Letters 19, 3543 (2019).
  11. Large excitonic reflectivity of monolayer MoSe2 encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitrideG. Scuri*, Y. Zhou*, A. A. High*, D. S. Wild*, C. Shu, K. De Greve, L. A. Jauregui, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, P. Kim, M. D. Lukin and H. Park, Physical Review Letters 120, 037402 (2018).Nature Research HighlightPhysics SynopsisChemistry WorldEditors’ Suggestion
  12. Radiative thermal runaway due to negative-differential thermal emission across a solid-solid phase transitionD. M. Bierman, A. Lenert, M. A. Kats, Y. Zhou, S. Zhang, M. De La Ossa, S. Ramanathan, F. Capasso and E. N. Wang, Physical Review Applied 10, 021001 (2018).
  13. Electrical control of charged carriers and excitons in atomically thin materialsK. Wang, K. De Greve, L. A. Jauregui, A. Sushko, A. A. High, Y. Zhou, G. Scuri, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, M. D. Lukin, H. Park and P. Kim, Nature Nanotechnology 13, 128–132 (2018).Nature Nanotechnology News & Views
  14. Limiting optical diodes enabled by the phase transition of vanadium dioxideC. Wan, E. Horak, J. King, J. Salman, Z. Zhang, Y. Zhou, P. Roney, B. Gundlach, S. Ramanathan, R. Goldsmith and M. A. Kats, ACS Photonics 5, 2688–2692 (2018).
  15. Probing dark excitons in atomically thin semiconductors via near-field coupling to surface plasmon polaritonsY. Zhou*, G. Scuri*, D. S. Wild*, A. A. High*, A. M. Dibos, L. A. Jauregui, C. Shu, K. De Greve, K. Pistunova, A. Y. Joe, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, P. Kim, M. D. Lukin and H. Park, Nature Nanotechnology 12, 856–860 (2017).Nature Nanotechnology News & Views
  16. Epsilon-near-zero substrate engineering for ultra-thin-film perfect absorbersJ. Rensberg, Y. Zhou, S. Richter, C. Wan, S. Zhang, P. Schöppe, R. Schmidt-Grund, S. Ramanathan, F. Capasso, M. A. Kats and C. Ronning, Physical Review Applied 8, 014009 (2017).
  17. Evolution of metallicity in vanadium dioxide by creation of oxygen vacanciesZ. Zhang, F. Zuo, C. Wan, A. Dutta, J. Kim, J. Rensberg, R. Nawrodt, H. Park, T. Larrabee, X. Guan, Y. Zhou, S. Prokes, C. Ronning, V. Shalaev, A. Boltasseva, M. A. Kats and S. Ramanathan, Physical Review Applied 7, 034008 (2017).
  18. Strongly correlated perovskite fuel cellsY. Zhou†, X. Guan, H. Zhou, K. Ramadoss, S. Adam, H. Liu, S. Lee, J. Shi, M. Tsuchiya, D. D. Fong and S. Ramanathan†, Nature 534, 231–234 (2016).Nature EnergyHarvard SEASIEEE SpectrumArgonne National LaboratoryNational Science Review
  19. Sign reversal of magnetoresistance in a perovskite nickelate by electron dopingK. Ramadoss, N. Mandal, X. Dai, Z. Wan, Y. Zhou, L. Rokhinson, Y. P. Chen, J. Hu and S. Ramanathan, Physical Review B 94, 235124 (2016).
  20. Correlated perovskites as a new platform for super-broadband-tunable photonicsZ. Li, Y. Zhou, H. Qi, Q. Pan, Z. Zhang, N. Shi, M. Lu, A. Stein, C. Y. Li, S. Ramanathan and N. Yu, Advanced Materials 28, 9117–9125 (2016).Columbia Engineering
  21. Active optical metasurfaces based on defect-engineered phase-transition materialsJ. Rensberg, S. Zhang, Y. Zhou, A. S. McLeod, C. Schwarz, M. Goldflam, M. Liu, J. Kerbusch, R. Nawrodt, S. Ramanathan, D. N. Basov, F. Capasso, C. Ronning and M. A. Kats, Nano Letters 16, 1050–1055 (2016).

2011–2015

  1. Mott memory and neuromorphic devicesInvitedY. Zhou† and S. Ramanathan†, Proceedings of the IEEE 103, 1289–1310 (2015).
  2. Dynamic control of light emission faster than the lifetime limit using VO2 phase-changeS. Cueff, D. Li, Y. Zhou, F. Wong, J. Kurvits, S. Ramanathan and R. Zia, Nature Communications 6, 8636 (2015).
  3. Self-limited kinetics of electron doping in correlated oxidesJ. Chen*, Y. Zhou*, S. Middey, J. Jiang, N. Chen, L. Chen, X. Shi, M. Döbeli, J. Shi, J. Chakhalian and S. Ramanathan, Applied Physics Letters 107, 031905 (2015).
  4. Reconfigurable anisotropy and functional transformations with VO2-based metamaterial electric circuitsS. Savo, Y. Zhou, G. Castaldi, M. Moccia, V. Galdi, S. Ramanathan and Y. Sato, Physical Review B 91, 134105 (2015).
  5. Control of emergent properties at a correlated oxide interface with grapheneY. Zhou*, J. Park*, J. Shi, M. Chhowalla, H. Park, D. A. Weitz and S. Ramanathan, Nano Letters 15, 1627–1634 (2015).
  6. Colossal resistance switching and band gap modulation in a perovskite nickelate by electron dopingJ. Shi*, Y. Zhou* and S. Ramanathan, Nature Communications 5, 4860 (2014).Harvard GazettePhys.orgIEEE SpectrumNSFMaterials Today
  7. Current-modulated optical properties of vanadium dioxide thin films in the phase transition regionS. Zhang, M. A. Kats, Y. Cui, Y. Zhou, Y. Yao, S. Ramanathan and F. Capasso, Applied Physics Letters 105, 211104 (2014).
  8. Tunable hyperbolic metamaterials utilizing phase change heterostructuresH. N. Krishnamoorthy, Y. Zhou, S. Ramanathan, E. Narimanov and V. M. Menon, Applied Physics Letters 104, 121101 (2014).
  9. Abrupt insertion loss drop by RF-triggering of the phase transition in CPW switchesS. D. Ha, Y. Zhou, C. J. Fisher, S. Ramanathan and J. P. Treadway, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters 24, 575 (2014).
  10. Quick Switch: Strongly correlated electronic phase transition systems for cutting-edge microwave devicesS. D. Ha, Y. Zhou, A. E. Duwel, D. W. White and S. Ramanathan, IEEE Microwave Magazine 15, 32–44 (2014).
  11. Electrical switching dynamics and broadband microwave characteristics of VO2 radio frequency devicesS. D. Ha, Y. Zhou, C. J. Fisher, S. Ramanathan and J. P. Treadway, Journal of Applied Physics 113, 184501 (2013).
  12. A correlated nickelate synaptic transistorJ. Shi, S. D. Ha, Y. Zhou, F. Schoofs and S. Ramanathan, Nature Communications 4, 2676 (2013).Harvard SEASMaterials Today
  13. GaN/VO2 heteroepitaxial pn junctions: Band offset and minority carrier dynamicsY. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Journal of Applied Physics 113, 213703 (2013).
  14. Correlated electron materials and field-effect transistors for logic: A reviewY. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Critical Reviews in Solid State and Materials Sciences 38, 286–317 (2013).
  15. Voltage-triggered ultrafast phase transition in vanadium dioxide switchesY. Zhou, X. Chen, C. Ko, Z. Yang, C. Mouli and S. Ramanathan, IEEE Electron Device Letters 34, 220–222 (2013).
  16. Epitaxial variants of VO2 thin films on complex oxide single crystal substrates with 3m surface symmetryF. J. Wong, Y. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Journal of Crystal Growth 364, 74 (2013).
  17. Suspended sub-50 nm vanadium dioxide membrane transistors: fabrication and ionic liquid gating studiesJ. S. Sim, Y. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Nanoscale 4, 7056 (2012).
  18. Relaxation dynamics of ionic liquid — VO2 interfaces and influence in electric double-layer transistorsY. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Journal of Applied Physics 111, 084508 (2012).
  19. Studies on room-temperature electric-field effect in ionic-liquid gated VO2 three-terminal devicesZ. Yang, Y. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Journal of Applied Physics 111, 014506 (2012).
  20. Heteroepitaxial VO2 thin films on GaN: Structure and metal-insulator transition characteristicsY. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Journal of Applied Physics 112, 074114 (2012).
  21. Multi-resistance states through electrically driven phase transitions in VO2/HfO2/VO2 heterostructures on siliconY. Zhou, Z. Yang and S. Ramanathan, IEEE Electron Device Letters 33, 101–103 (2012).
  22. Probing compositional disorder in vanadium oxide thin films grown on atomic layer deposited hafnia on silicon by capacitance spectroscopyC. Ko, Y. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 30, 011501 (2012).
  23. Synthesis of vanadium dioxide thin films on conducting oxides and metal-insulator transition characteristicsY. Cui, X. Wang, Y. Zhou, R. Gordon and S. Ramanathan, Journal of Crystal Growth 338, 96 (2012).

Book chapters

  1. Computation and learning with metal-insulator transitions and emergent phases in correlated oxidesY. Zhou, S. D. Ha and S. Ramanathan, in CMOS and Beyond: Logic Switches for Terascale Integrated Circuits (eds. T.-J. K. Liu & K. Kuhn), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK; New York, USA (2015).
  2. Correlated electrons: A platform for solid state devicesS. D. Ha, Y. Zhou, R. Jaramillo and S. Ramanathan, in Future Trends in Microelectronics: Frontiers and Innovations (eds. S. Luryi, J. Xu & A. Zaslavsky), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA (2013).

Patents and applications

  1. Active nanoplasmonic platform for controllable light-matter interactionS. Sarkar, M. J. Mehrabad, Y. Zhou and M. Hafezi, US non-provisional patent application (2025).
  2. Nonlinear optical devices based on van der Waals semiconductorsY. Zhou and L. Gu, patent application filed (2023).
  3. Dopant-driven phase transitions in correlated metal oxidesJ. Shi, Y. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, US 10,600,959, filed 2014, granted 2020.
  4. Electrochemical systems based on charge induced electron localizationY. Zhou and S. Ramanathan, patent application filed (2016).
  5. Electrically-driven phase transitions in functional oxide heterostructuresY. Zhou, Z. Yang and S. Ramanathan, US 9,343,206, filed 2013, granted 2016.