Academician Xue Qikun: China's quantum information and high-temperature superconductivity are in the first echelon in the world

On June 24, after leading his team to complete the "experimental discovery of the quantum anomalous Hall effect" 6 years ago and winning the only first prize of the National Natural Science Award in 2018, Academician Xue Qikun once again stepped onto the podium of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 24 and won the 2023 National Highest Science and Technology Award.

According to China News Service, Academician Xue Qikun pointed out that superconductivity is a typical macroscopic quantum phenomenon. In the two important fields of quantum science, quantum information and high-temperature superconductivity, China is in the first echelon in the world in terms of the quality of talents and the level of research, reaching the international first-class level.

Academician Xue Qikun said that quantum information science, represented by quantum computing, will likely usher in a revolution, which may not be less significant than the information revolution we are experiencing now, but may be more difficult.

Academician Xue Qikun developed an ultra-high vacuum interconnected system of molecular beam epitaxy, scanning tunneling microscopy and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, forming an internationally common experimental technology for the controllable preparation and characterization of quantum materials at the atomic scale.

On this basis, Academician Xue Qikun led his team to make two original scientific discoveries: quantum anomalous Hall effect and interface high-temperature superconductivity. Among them, the experimental discovery of quantum anomalous Hall effect in topological insulators is a milestone breakthrough in the field of condensed matter physics, and the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity at heterojunction interfaces has opened up a new research direction for high-temperature superconductivity.

It is reported that in October 2023, Academician Xue Qikun won the 2024 Buckley Prize, the highest award in the field of international condensed matter physics. Academician Xue Qikun became the first Chinese winner of the Buckley Prize in 70 years.

Academician Xue Qikun's resume:

• Born in December 1963, native of Mengyin, Shandong

• 1984 B.A. from Shandong University

• 1994 PhD from Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

• From 1992 to 1999, he studied and worked at the Institute of Metal Materials, Tohoku University, Japan, and the Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, USA.

• From 1999 to 2005, he served as a researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics.

• Since 2005, he has been a professor in the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the same year.

• From 2010 to 2013, he served as Dean of the School of Science and Director of the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University.

• From 2011 to 2016, he served as Director of the State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics

• From 2013 to 2020, he served as Vice President of Tsinghua University

• Since 2017, he has served as the first dean of the Beijing Institute of Quantum Information Science.

• President of Southern University of Science and Technology since 2020

• Director of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Quantum Science Center from 2022