PhD [Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden]

MPhil (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

BS (University of Science and Technology of China)

Professor ZHOU Yan joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) in 2015, where he established a research team of over ten members. Since 2018, he has held a tenured position and was promoted to Full Professor in 2022.

The team focuses on research in the field of spintronics and nanomagnetic materials, with a dedication to addressing the challenges of miniaturizing and integrating electronic devices. The team is committed to seeking innovative, low-power devices and information processing solutions.

Professor ZHOU Yan supervised over ten graduate students, one of whom received the “Outstanding Graduate Award” from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). Among the postdoctoral researchers he supervised, three received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China’s Youth Fund. As the Principal Investigator (PI), Professor ZHOU Yan has led several competitive research projects and secured competitive research funding of over 50 million RMB.

In the past five years, Prof. Zhou has published over 100 JCR Q1 papers as first authors or corresponding authors. The team members have published more than 40 papers as first (or corresponding) authors in top-tier academic journals such as Nature Electronics, Nature Physics, Nature Communications, and Physical Review Letters (PRL). These papers have been cited over 12,300 times by international peers, with H-index of 53. The team has also filed over 30 international and national invention patents. Additionally, more than 40 of their published papers have been selected as cover papers in prestigious journals such as Nature sub-journals, and as top 1% highly cited papers in the field of physics according to SCI. Their research has been widely covered by influential scientific news such as Nature Research, IOP Nanotechnology etc

Professor ZHOU Yan has been invited to deliver invited talks at prestigious conferences such as the American Physical Society, the American Materials Research Society, and international conferences on magnetic materials. He has also served as a committee member for these conferences. Professor ZHOU Yan has been reviewer for Nature Materials, Nature Physics, Nature Nanotechnology, and Physical Review Letters. He has also been invited to review research projects for organizations such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the French National Research Agency, the German Research Foundation, the European Union, and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission.

Professor ZHOU Yan and his research team have received the following research and teaching awards and honors:

• 2023 Shenzhen Outstanding Teacher
• 2023 Outstanding Performance Fund of School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)
• 2022 18^th Higher Education Youth Science Award of the Fok Ying Tung Foundation
• 2021 First Prize in Natural Science and Technology of Shenzhen
• 2020-2022 Top 2% of the World Scientists Ranking released by Stanford University
• 2021 Inaugural Outstanding Young Researcher Award of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)
• 2021 Fellow of Institute of Physics, UK
• 2020 President’s Award from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)
• 2019 Second Prize from the China Electronics Society (as the second author)
• 2017/2021 China’s Emerging Technology Figures
• 2017 Inaugural President’s Exemplary Teaching Award from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)

Some representative articles from the past few years:

• “Identifying and Exploring Synthetic Antiferromagnetic Skyrmions”

Y. Zhao (team member), S. Yang, K. Wu, S. Li, Y. Gao, H. Hao, X. Zhang, S. Wang, Q. Liu, S. Zhang*, Z. Chu, J. Åkerman, and Yan Zhou*

Advanced Functional Materials, 2303133 (2023).

 [The experimental paper provides a reliable way to identify topological spin textures with zero skyrmion Hall effect]

• “Reversible Conversion Between Skyrmions and Skyrmioniums”

Sheng Yang (team member), Yuelei Zhao, Kai Wu, Zhiqin Chu, Xiaohong Xu, Xiaoguang Li, Johan Åkerman, and Yan Zhou*

Nature Communications, 14, 3406 (2023). 

[The experimental paper demonstrates the conversion between different topological spin textures with different topological charges]

• “Universal quantum computations based on nano-skyrmion helicity qubits in frustrated magnets”

Jing Xia (team member), Xichao Zhang, Xiaoxi Liu, Yan Zhou*, Motohiko Ezawa*

Physical Review Letters, 130, 106701(2023).

[The first paper to propose universal quantum computation based on magnetic skyrmion Helicity with DDI]

• “Event-based Vision in Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect Microscopy”

Kai Zhang (team member), Yuelei Zhao, Z. Q. Chu, Yan Zhou*

AIP Advances, 12, 095315 (2022). [Feature article]

Highlight: New “add-on” mimics human eye, elevates traditional microscopy technology.

Scilight "Integrating revolutionary sensor technology with Magneto-optic Kerr effect microscopy,"

https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/10.0014102

• “Exchange-torque-triggered fast switching of antiferromagnetic domains”

J. Xu, X. Zhang (team member), J. Xia, Chao ZHOU, Dong Shi, Haoran Chen, Tong Wu, Qian Li, Haifeng Ding, Yan Zhou*, Yizheng Wu*

Physical Review Letters, 128, 137201 (2022).

• “A comparative study of the domain wall motion in ferrimagnets (Fe,Co)1−x(Gd,Tb)x”

Yuqing ZHOU (team member), Teng Xu, Xue Liang, Le Zhao, Hengan ZHOU, Wanjun Jiang*, and Yan Zhou*

Nanoscale, 14, 13526 (2022). Front cover

• “Current-induced dynamics and chaos of antiferromagnetic bimerons”

L. Shen (team member), J. Xia, X. Zhang, M. Ezawa, O. A. Tretiakov, X. Liu, G. Zhao*, and Yan Zhou*

Physical Review Letters, 124, 037202 (2020).

• “Detection of HIV-1 antigen based on magnetic tunnel junction sensor and magnetic nanoparticles”

L. Li (team member), K. Y. Mak, Yan Zhou*

Chinese Physics B, 29, 088701 (2020). “Editor’s suggestion”

• “Topology-Dependent Brownian Gyromotion of a Single Skyrmion”

Le Zhao, Zidong Wang (team member), Xichao Zhang, Xue Liang, Jing Xia, Keyu Wu, Heng-An ZHOU, Yiqing Dong, Guoqiang Yu, Kang L. Wang, Xiaoxi Liu, Yan Zhou*, and Wanjun Jiang*

Physical Review Letters, 125, 027206 (2020).

• “Magnetic skyrmions: intriguing physics and new spintronic device concepts”

Yan Zhou*

National Science Review, vol. 6, No. 2, pp 210-212 (2019).