Research Scientist at Smalley-Curl Institute

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University

Phone: +1(346)262-9380 Email: tc39@rice.edu

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ge6kY2sAAAAJ&hl=en

I am an experimental condensed matter physicist at Rice University, dedicated to realizing, identifying, and understanding quantum materials. My research focuses on quantum spin systems, unconventional superconductors, magnetic topological materials, and flat-band compounds. I am particularly interested in quantum magnetism, unconventional superconductivity, and their complex interplay in these systems. My primary experimental technique is neutron scattering, which I use to explore quantum phenomena in depth.

News

January 2026

Moving back to Houston and starting as a research scientist / principal investigator at Rice University.

December 2024

The paper on antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin fluctuations in the spin-triplet superconductor candidate CeRh2As2 is published in Physical Review Letters, 133(26), 266505. Our findings indicate that the dominant excitations in CeRh2As2 are magnetic and suggest that superconductivity is mediated by (pi, pi) AFM spin fluctuations associated with a proximate quantum critical point.

April 2023

The paper on diffusive excitonic bands in a singlet-ground-state system Ni2Mo3O8 is published in Nature Communications, 14(1), 2051. We find that the crystal electric field from the tetrahedral Ni sites forms a dispersive diffusive pattern around the Brillouin zone boundary, likely due to spin entanglement and geometric frustrations.

January 2022

Many congratulations on my Ph.D. advisor, Pengcheng Dai, winning Onnes Prize! Very proud to have worked with him.

December 2021

Delighted to get my Ph.D. from Rice! Heading to Baltimore.

July 2019

The paper on quantum spin liquid (QSL) candidate Ce2Zr2O7 is published in Nature Physics, 15(10), 1052-1057. Ce2Zr2O7 is the first three-dimensional pyrochlore lattice QSL material with the minimum magnetic and non-magnetic chemical disorder.

May 2019

The paper on iron-based superconductor FeSe is published in Nature Materials, 18(7), 709-716. Our results highlight the extreme electronic anisotropy of the nematic phase of FeSe and are consistent with a highly anisotropic superconducting gap driven by spin fluctuations.

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Tong Chen