Liangbo Liang

Bio

Dr. Liangbo Liang is a research staff member in the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Prior to that, He was a Wigner Fellow at ORNL from 2015 to 2018. He received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2014. Liang’s thesis research is the development and employment of theoretical/computational methods to understand low-dimensional systems, which was recognized by the Huntington Award at RPI. As a Wigner Fellow at ORNL, he worked on integration of accurate theoretical/computational approaches with various experimental techniques for the understanding of nanomaterials and quantum materials, including modeling of scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S), Raman scattering, photoluminescence spectroscopy.

His current research generally lies in condensed matter theory and computational physics, focusing on developing and applying large-scale theoretical/computational methods on supercomputers to understand and engineer diverse materials from first principles. Methods including DFT and many-body GW approach are used to study electronic, magnetic, optical, vibrational, and Raman scattering properties of quantum materials and nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, metal halides, black phosphorus, etc.

Research Areas (Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics; Computational Physics; First-principles Density Functional Theory; Many-body GW Approximation; Quantum Materials; Nanomaterials)

1. Theoretical research on diverse properties of quantum materials and nanomaterials, including their electronic, magnetic, optical, vibrational, thermal, thermoelectric, piezoelectric, photovoltaic properties, etc.

2. Developing and applying computational packages for quantum mechanical modeling of various experimental techniques including scanning tunneling microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, etc.

3. Close collaborations with experimentalists across the world to corroborate and guide experimental measurements on diverse systems ranging from molecules to nanomaterials to strongly correlated systems.

Selected Publications (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CQzvtKsAAAAJ&hl=en)

(110+ publications in total with 10,900+ citations, h-index=45 from Google Scholar/42 from Web of Science, including papers in high-impact journals such as Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Physical Review Letters, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, JACS, Advanced Materials, PNAS, Nanoscale, Angewandte Chemie, 2D Materials, etc.)

1. X. Kong, W. Luo, L. Li, M. Yoon, T. Berlijn, L. Liang*, “Floquet band engineering and topological phase transition in 1T’ transition metal Dichalcogenides”, 2D Materials, 9, 025005 (2022). [*Corresponding author] 
2. X. Kong, T. Berlijn, L. Liang*, “Thickness and spin dependence of Raman modes in magnetic layered Fe₃GeTe₂”, Advanced Electronic Materials, 2001159 (2021). [*Corresponding author]
3. R. Ge*, X. Wu*, L. Liang*, S. Hus, Y. Gu, E. Okogbue, H. Chou, J. Shi, Y. Zhang, S. Banerjee, Y. Jung, J. Lee, D. Akinwande, “A Library of Atomically Thin 2D Materials Featuring the Conductive‐Point Resistive Switching Phenomenon”, Advanced Materials, 33, 2007792 (2021). [*Co-lead author]
4. S. Hus, R. Ge, P. Chen, L. Liang, G. Donnelly, W. Ko, F. Huang, M. Chiang, A. Li, D. Akinwande, “Observation of single-defect memristor in an MoS₂ atomic sheet”, Nature Nanotechnology, 16, 58–62 (2021).
5. W. Luo, A. Oyedele, Y. Gu, T. Li, X. Wang, A. Haglund, D. Mandrus, A. Puretzky, K. Xiao, L. Liang*, X. Ling*, “Anisotropic Phonon Response of Few‐Layer PdSe₂ under Uniaxial Strain”, Advanced Functional Materials, 2003215 (2020). [*Co-corresponding author]
6. G. Nguyen, A. Oyedele, A. Haglund, W. Ko, L. Liang*, A. Puretzky, D. Mandrus, K. Xiao, A. Li*, “Atomically Precise PdSe₂ Pentagonal Nanoribbons”, ACS Nano, 14, 1951 (2020). [*Co-corresponding author]
7. J. Zhang, X. Li, K. Xiao, B. Sumpter, A. Ghosh, L. Liang*, “The role of mid-gap phonon modes in thermal transport of transition metal dichalcogenides”, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 32, 025306 (2019). [*Corresponding author]
8. L. Liang, E. C. Girão, V. Meunier, “Modeling the Kondo effect of a magnetic atom adsorbed on graphene”, 2D Materials, 6, 035038 (2019).
9. N. Mao, X. Wang, Y. Lin, B. Sumpter, Q. Ji, T. Palacios, S. Huang, V. Meunier, M. Dresselhaus, W. Tisdale, L. Liang*, X. Ling*, J. Kong*, “Direct Observation of Symmetry-Dependent Electron-Phonon Coupling in Black Phosphorus”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 141, 18994 (2019). [*Co-corresponding author]
10. W. Zhu*, L. Liang*, R. Roberts, J. Lin, D. Akinwande, “Anisotropic Electron–Phonon Interactions in Angle-Resolved Raman Study of Strained Black Phosphorus”, ACS Nano, 12, 12512 (2018). [*Co-lead author]
11. A. Puretzky, A. Oyedele, K. Xiao, A. V. Haglund, B. Sumpter, D. Mandrus, D. B. Geohegan, L. Liang*, “Anomalous interlayer vibrations in strongly coupled layered PdSe₂”, 2D Materials, 5, 035016 (2018). [*Corresponding author]
12. G. D. Nguyen, L. Liang*, Q. Zou, M. Fu, A. Oyedele, B. Sumpter, Z. Liu, Z. Gai, K. Xiao, A. Li*, “3D imaging and manipulation of subsurface selenium vacancies in PdSe₂”, Physical Review Letters, 121, 086101 (2018). [*Co-corresponding author]
13. L. Liang*, A. Puretzky, B. Sumpter, V. Meunier, “Interlayer bond polarizability model for stacking-dependent low-frequency Raman scattering in layered materials”, Nanoscale, 9, 15340 (2017). [*Corresponding author] [Nanoscale HOT Article Collection]
14. L. Liang, J. Zhang, B. Sumpter, Q. Tan, P. Tan, V. Meunier, “Low-Frequency Shear and Layer-Breathing Modes in Raman Scattering of Two-Dimensional Materials", ACS Nano, 11, 11777 (2017).
15. C. Ma, L. Liang*, Z. Xiao, A. Puretzky, W. Lu, V. Meunier, J. Bernholc, A. Li*, “Seamless staircase electrical contact to semiconducting graphene nanoribbon”, Nano Letters, 17, 6241 (2017). [*Co-corresponding author]
16. L. Liang, V. Meunier, “Atomically Precise Graphene Nanoribbon Heterojunctions for Excitonic Solar Cells”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 119, 775 (2015).
17. L. Liang, J. Wang, W. Lin, B. G. Sumpter, V. Meunier, M. Pan, “Electronic Bandgap and Edge Reconstruction in Phosphorene Materials”, Nano Letters, 14, 6400 (2014).
18. L. Liang, V. Meunier, “First-principles Raman spectra of MoS₂, WS₂ and their heterostructures”, Nanoscale, 6, 5394 (2014).
19. L. Liang, V. Meunier, “Electronic and thermoelectric properties of assembled graphene nanoribbons with elastic strain and structural dislocation”, Applied Physics Letters, 102, 143101 (2013).
20. L. Liang, E. Cruz-Silva, E. C. Girão, V. Meunier, “Enhanced thermoelectric figure of merit in assembled graphene nanoribbons”, Physical Review B, 86, 115438 (2012).

Professional Experience

2018–Present  Research Staff, CNMS, ORNL

2015–2018      Eugene P. Wigner Fellow/Research Staff Associate, CNMS, ORNL

2014–2015      Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Physics, RPI

2010–2014      Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Physics, RPI

Awards

2023 CNMS Division Award: Most Notable CNMS User Project

2020 UT-Battelle/ORNL Award: Outstanding Scholarly Output Team Award

2017 CNMS Division Award: Distinguished Scientific Paper

2017 CNMS Division Award: Outstanding Scientific or Technical Contribution

2016 CNMS Division Award: Most Notable CNMS User Project

2015 Eugene P. Wigner Fellowship of Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2015 Outstanding Reviewer - Journal Carbon

2014 Hillard B. Huntington Award for Outstanding Graduate Student at RPI

2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Student of Wuhan University

2007 First Prize of the National Scholarship

2006 Samsung Scholarship

Education

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), U.S.A.                    Physics            Ph.D., 2014
Wuhan University, China                                                         Physics            B.S.,   2008
 

Professional Service

2023–Present    Member and the Treasurer of the Executive Committee of the APS Mid-Atlantic Section  

2023     Organized 2023 CNMS User Meeting Workshop “Novel Materials for Neuromorphic Computing”

2022      Invited Talk at the 8th NANO Boston Conference 

2021      Invited Talk at the 7th NANO Boston Conference

2021      Invited Talk at the 3rd International Conference on Advances in Functional Materials 

2021      Invited Talk at the CNMS seminar at Oak Ridge National Laboratory                               

2021      Invited Talk at the seminar series "Theory Talks" at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 

2019      Invited Talk at the GrapheneforUS 2019 International Conference

2017      Invited Talk at Graphene Week 2017 (Greece)

2017      Invited Talk at 2017 CNMS-SNS User Meeting Workshop

2016     Contributed Talk at American Physical Society March Meeting

2015     Program Coordinator for International Phosphorene Symposium

2014     Contributed Talk at American Physical Society March Meeting

2013     Invited Talk at the Physics Colloquium of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Referee to journals: Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Nanoscale, Carbon, Scientific Reports, Small, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Nanotechnology, 2D Materials, Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, etc. 

Professional Affiliations

2023–Present    Member and the Treasurer of the Executive Committee of the APS Mid-Atlantic Section

Member of APS

Publications