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About Shanyuan

Research Overview

Dr. Shanyuan Niu is currently an assistant professor in College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University.

Shanyuan obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science at University of Southern California, under the supervision of Jayakanth Ravichandran, and was a Postdoctoral Scholar in Extreme Environments Laboratory at Stanford University, working with Prof. Wendy Mao and Dr. Yu Lin. (Shanyuan's CV)

Shanyuan was born in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. He received a Bachelor degree at Nanjing University. Shanyuan is a dedicated researcher, tech believer, sports enthusiast (snowboarding, hiking, ping-pong, scuba diving, basketball....), motorcyclist, hardworking mentee and passionate mentor.

Shanyuan's general research interest lies in the big, fun interdisciplinary playground between materials science, semiconductor physics, solid-state chemistry, and technologies that control the interaction of electrons and photons.

Shanyuan's PhD work focuses on the design, synthesis and physical properties of novel semiconductors for desirable functionalities, preferably with earth abundant elements and environment benign composition. Materials currently under investigation is the transition metal perovskite chalcogenides (TMPCs), a new class of semiconductors with rich tunability and responsive in visible to infrared part of electromagnetic spectrum. See more details in the Research page.

Latest News

Shanyuan joined CEAS at Nanjing University.

Banner Bearer for Grad School


5/10/19 Shanyuan served as the banner bearer for grad school at the 2019 USC commencement. The photo shows Shanyuan leading the PhD degree candidates to process into the ceremony along with the Faculty Marshalls.

Viterbi Hooding Ceremony Speaker


5/9/19 Shanyuan delivered a speech at the 2019 Viterbi PhD Hooding and Awards Ceremony. Watch the full speech here: https://youtu.be/qhhkNkN3BkwSee the news here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/fwVhjH4K2Nsez/

William F. Ballhaus, Jr. Prize for Excellence in Graduate Engineering Research


5//9/19 Shanyuan was the winner of the William F. Ballhaus, Jr. Prize for Excellence in Graduate Engineering Research. Shanyuan smiles with Dr. Ballhaus, Jr. and Dean Yortsos after receiving the award plaque at the 2019 Viterbi PhD Hooding and Awards Ceremony.

USC Ph.D. Achievement Award


4//25/19 Shanyuan won USC PhD Achievement Award for 2019. Six winners are selected from current PhD students at University of Southern California for their academic achievements. Vice Provost Sally Pratt presented the medallion to Shanyuan. Photos of the reception.

  • New Award: 2018 Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad (国家优秀自费留学生奖学金)

5/5/19 Shanyuan has been selected for the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad for 2018. This prestigious award selects recipients worldwide for their outstanding academic achievements annually, among Chinese graduate students studying abroad in any discipline.

  • New Award: Best Dissertation Award

4/2/19 Shanyuan has won the Best Dissertation Award in Materials Science, and has been selected as one of the finalists to present research at the Best Dissertation Symposium for a chance to win the the William F. Ballhaus, Jr. Prize for Excellence in Graduate Engineering Research, which carries a $10,000 prize! The winner will be announced at the PhD Hooding Ceremony.

  • Conference Talk: APS March 2019

3/4/18 Shanyuan gave a talk at the 2019 APS March Meeting, Boston, MA, about the crystal growth, structure, and electronic property of Ruddlesden-Popper sulfides. (Crystal Growth, Electronic Structure and Optical Property of BaZrS3 and its Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Sulfides). Shanyuan was recognized and given the awards at DMP and FIP receptions.

  • Ph.D. Defense

2/1/19 Shanyuan has passed his Ph.D. defense! Congratulations Dr. Niu! Thanks to Dr. Ravichandran, Dr. Kapadia, Dr. Wang and Dr. Armani to serve in the defense committee.

  • Visiting SLAC SSRL

1/22/19 Shanyuan visited SLAC SSRL and performed a 2-day user experiments at beamline 14-3 with Kevin. Good to hang out with Kevin again. Thanks Sam and Sharon at 14-3 for the help!

  • New Award: Ovshinsky Travel Grant Award, APS DMP

1/21/19 Shanyuan has won an Ovshinsky Travel Grant Award from American Physical Society (APS ) Division of Materials Physics (DMP). The award will be announced and presented at the DCMP/DMP Joint Awards Reception (Mar 5, 5:30-7:00pm) at the 2019 APS March Meeting.

  • New Award: DCMP Honorable Mention Travel Award

1/9/19 Shanyuan has won a Honorable Mention Travel Award from American Physical Society (APS ) Division of Condensed Matter Physics (DCMP).
11/29/18 Shanyuan gave a talk at the 2018 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit, Boston, MA, about the optical spectroscopy work of Ruddlesden-Popper sulfides. (Optical and X-Ray Spectroscopy of the Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskite Sulfides)

  • New Award: Best Talk at 2018 MFD Research Symposium

11/9/18 Shanyuan has won the First Place Oral Presentation in the 13th Mork Family Department Annual Student Research Symposium, which carries a 1000$ cash prize. This is the third consecutive time Shanyuan won an award at the departmental research symposium. (talk slides)
10/24/18 Shanyuan gave a talk at AVS 65th International Symposium and Exhibition at Long Beach, CA, about building infrared anisotropy in hexagonal perovskite sulfides. (Giant Optical Anisotropy in Hexagonal Perovskite Chalcogenides with Quasi-1D Structures)

  • Media Spotlight: campus TVs

10/24/18 Shanyuan and his advisor, Dr. Ravichandran, made it to the USC campus TVs by elevators again thanks to USC and Viterbi news coverage of their work: recent news, previous coverage, featuring infrared research, photovoltaic research.

  • New Award: 2019 Distinguished Student Award of APS, FIP

10/17/18 Shanyuan has won the Distinguished Student Award of APS FIP (American Physical Society, Forum on International Physics), which will be presented at an award reception at APS Marching Meeting 2019, Boston, Massachusetts.

  • New Article Accepted

10/16/18 S. Niu, J. M. Guerrero, Y. Zhou, K. Ye, B. Zhao, B. Melot and J. Ravichandran, “Thermal stability study of transition metal perovskite sulfides” accepted, Journal of Materials Research [Invited Article, Special Issue on 2017 MRS Fall Meeting]
10/16/18 Shanyuan is giving a talk titled "Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite sulfides with optimal band gap and desirable optoelectronic properties for photovoltaics" in session -Complex Oxide and Chalcogenide Semiconductors at the Electronic Materials and Applications 2019 conference, Jan 23 - 25 at Orlando, Florida.

  • New Article Published

10/1/18 - New Article: Y. Liu, S. Niu, T. Orvis, H. Zhang, H. Wang, J. Ravichandran, "Epitaxial Growth and Electrical Properties of VO2 on LSAT (111) substrate", Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A.

  • New Award nominated: Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad

9/12/18 Shanyuan is nominated for the prestigious Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad by LA Consulate General, the final awardees will be further reviewed and announced in April, 2019.

  • Media Spotlight: Featuring Nature Photonics Article on BaTiS3 Work

Our recent work about the designer infrared optical material BaTiS3 was featured in many news: including a Nature Photonics News & Views article, and reports in Phys.org, ECN, EurekAlert!, Materials Today, ScienceDaily, Laser Focus World, etc.

  • Two Articles Published in One Issue

8/14/18 Shanyuan's two articles are published side by side in Chem. Mater. Vol. 30, Issue 15.

  • New Article Accepted

7/30/18 S. Niu, H. Zhao, Y. Zhou, H. Huyan, B. Zhao, J. Wu, S. B. Cronin, H. Wang, J. Ravichandran, “Mid-wave and Long-wave IR Linear Dichroism in a Hexagonal Perovskite Chalcogenide”, Chemistry of Materials.

  • New Article Accepted

7/14/18 S. Niu, D. Sarkar, K. Williams, Y. Zhou, Y. Li, E. Bianco, H. Huyan, S. B. Cronin, M. E. McConney, R. Haiges, R. Jaramillo, D. J. Singh, W. A. Tisdale, R. Kapadia, J. Ravichandran, “Optimal Bandgap in a Ruddlesden-Popper Chalcogenide for Single-junction Solar Cells”, Chemistry of Materials.

Selected Publications:

Some Relevant Links

Contact Information

Funding Support

Office: 3651 Watt Way, Room 710, Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE), University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA Email: nius at usc.edu Wechat ID: niushanyuan