Professor Jiang Wei Awarded NSF Grant to Study Hydrogen-Controlled Quantum Materials

Jiang Wei, a professor in Tulane's Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, has received a new award from the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research to study how hydrogen can be used to control the electronic and magnetic properties of a class of crystals called rutile oxides. Rutile oxides include titanium dioxide, which is the white pigment used in paint and sunscreen. The award, "Hydrogen-Mediated Phase & Property Control in Rutile Oxides," is worth $580,800 and runs from September 2026 through August 2029.

Wei has been at Tulane for about 14 years, working at the intersection of physics and engineering. His lab, which focuses on quantum materials and quantum devices, studies how the properties of crystals change when they are broken down to the nanoscale.

The new project builds on preliminary findings from his lab and centers on a technique called hydrogen spillover, in which hydrogen molecules are broken into atomic hydrogen that diffuses into rutile oxide crystals. According to Wei, the crystal structure of rutile oxides makes them especially receptive to this process.

"Once the hydrogen gets in, these hallways fill with energetic electrons - like the whole crystal starts throwing a party. The material goes from quiet insulator to conducting metal," Wei said.

Wei said the ultimate goal of the project is to develop rewritable electronics by controlling where and how densely the hydrogen diffuses into the material.

A second application Wei is pursuing involves building prototype "synaptic transistors," devices modeled loosely on how connections between neurons strengthen with repeated use. Because the conductivity of the hydrogenated rutile oxide depends on how much hydrogen has been introduced, Wei sees a parallel to how repeated exposure to information strengthens memory.

"We want to build a prototype, a device that’s trying to mimic how neurons work, but we use these materials and this new mechanism," Wei said.

The award supports a Ph.D. student who will earn a doctorate through the project, as well as several undergraduate researchers who work in Wei's lab during the summer. Wei described his lab as an open, creative environment welcoming to anyone interested in the research, including high school students.

The grant will also help fund the lab's continued participation in the Tulane Science Scholars Program, which brings local kids to campus to experience research firsthand. His lab hosts groups of students roughly twice a year.

Separately, Wei's lab has spent nearly a decade running a summer program for high school students that has since evolved into a credit-bearing course, Physics 1015: Materials Science and Engineering, drawing about 15 to 20 students annually from around the world.

Wei added that funding from the new award will help the lab update its teaching materials by drawing directly from current research for use in the classroom.

The award will also support the development of a new course, "Quantum Electronics and Devices," which Wei said is tied to Tulane's effort to reestablish its electrical engineering program.

"The name of our department is Physics and Engineering Physics... so we're trying to reestablish those discontinued programs, like electrical engineering, that were scrambled during Katrina," Wei said.

Wei said the course will incorporate hands-on lab work, made possible in part by a new clean room, and will directly incorporate knowledge generated through the NSF-funded research. He said students who take the course will be better prepared for high-tech careers, pointing to former students who have gone on to work at companies like Intel and SpaceX.

Wei emphasized that he hopes students take away from his lab an independence and curiosity over rote learning.

"I want to train them to make sure that they can seek their own directions and can ask their own scientific questions that they can pursue," Wei said.

Wei credited Tulane's research environment, as well as collaborators at LSU, for making the project possible, pointing to quick response times, accessible facilities, and close collaboration among faculty.

"Everybody knows each other and it’s a very small and responsive environment. That is really a huge help," Wei said.

He also acknowledged the students and postdocs in his lab.

"I appreciate our students and postdocs. They work hard, day by day in the lab, solving problems and communicating. That is really important," Wei said.