My research primarily focuses on the epitaxial growth of ferroelectric thin films, nonlinear optical and ultrafast spectroscopic characterization, as well as terahertz and integrated photonic devices.
I have published over 40 peer‑reviewed articles as first or corresponding author in top-tier journals such as Nature (featured as a cover article), Nature Communications, and Advanced Materials. In addition, I have co-authored more than 80 papers in leading journals including Science and Nature Materials, with over 4,000 citations to date. I have also filed five invention patents, two of which have been granted. My group leads several major funded initiatives, including support from the Ministry of Education’s talent retention program, multiple grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and funding from the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation. We also collaborate on applied R&D projects with industry partners, such as the China National Nuclear Corporation.
Our laboratory is well‑equipped for thin‑film research, featuring oxide molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), pulsed laser deposition (PLD), and RF magnetron sputtering systems. We also operate femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser amplifiers, a microwave photonics test system, and various self-designed optical and electrical characterization platforms. Furthermore, we maintain strong, long-term collaborations with major large-scale facilities domestically and internationally, including X-ray free-electron lasers, synchrotron sources, and ultrafast electron diffraction centers.
Each year, I typically supervise 1-2 Ph.D. students and actively welcome postdoctoral researchers to join our group.
A selected list of recent publications is included below; the full publication record is available on ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Qian-Li-176).
(1) Qian Li, Haidan Wen# et al; Subterahertz collective dynamics of polar vortices, Nature, 2021, 592: 376-380
(2) Sixu Wang; Wei Li; Chengguang Deng; Zijian Hong; Han-Bin Gao; Xiaolong Li; Yueliang Gu; Qiang Zheng; Yongjun Wu; Paul G. Evans; Jing-Feng Li; Ce-Wen Nan; Qian Li#; Giant electric field induced second harmonic generation in polar skyrmions, Nature Communications, 2024, 15: 1374
(3) Han Yu, Ning Guo, Chenguang Deng#, Haojie Han, Wei Li, Collieus Lebudi, Sixu Wang, Yuhan Li, Yongjin Chen, Shang Peng, Jinxing Zhang, Jing Ma, Qiang Zheng, Jing-Feng Li, Qian Li#. Tuning the electro-optic properties of BaTiO3 epitaxial thin films via buffer layer-controlled polarization rotation paths. Advanced Functional Materials, 2024, ja: 202315579
(4) Wei Li, Lei Liao, Chenguang Deng, Collieus Lebudi, Jingchun Liu, Sixu Wang, Di Yi, Lifen Wang, Jing-Feng Li, Qian Li#. Artificial domain patterning in ultrathin ferroelectric films via modifying the surface electrostatic boundary conditions. Nano Letters, 2024, 16, 5010
(5) Han, Haojie, Li, Wei, Tang, Shiyu, Yue, Wang, Xu, Zongqi, Chen, Hetian, Gu, Jingkun, Wang, Jing, Yi, Di, Gu, Lin, Huang, Houbing, Nan, Ce‐Wen, Li, Qian#, Ma, Jing#. Electric Field‐Manipulated Optical Chirality in Ferroelectric Vortex Domains. Advanced Materials 2024, 202408400.
(6) Wanli Zhang, Xinpeng Mou, Yunpeng Ma, Yi Zheng, Sixu Wang, Liang Shu, Ziwan Du, Chenguang Deng, Qiong Yang, Rong Yu, Jing-Feng Li, Qian Li#. Phase Coexistence Induced Giant Dielectric Tunability and Electromechanical Response in PbZrO3 Epitaxial Thin Films. Small, 2025, 202410260
(7) Haozhi Sha, Yixuan Zhang, Yunpeng Ma, Wei Li, Wenfeng Yang, JizheCui, Qian L#, Houbing Huang#, Rong Yu#. Polar vortex hidden in twisted bilayers of paraelectric SrTiO3. Nature Communications, 2024, 15, 10915.
(8) Yutong Ran, Chen Meng, Ziao Lu, Huaipeng Wang, Yunpeng Ma, Dan Xie, Qian Li#, Hongwei Zhu#. Moiré Ferroelectricity in Twisted Multilayer SnSe2. Small Structures, 2024, 2400621
(9) Ziwan Du; Yuxuan Lai; Ruirong Bai; Bolun Wang; Qiang Zheng; Chuan Xu; Teng Lu; Jun Pei; Wei Li; Yu‐Ning Wu; Kai Liu; Yun Liu; Engang Fu; Jing-Feng Li; Yigang Yang; Qian Li#; Robust Thermal Neutron Detection by LiInP2Se6 Bulk Single Crystals, Advanced Materials, 2023, ja: 2212213
(10) Wei Li; Yunpeng Ma; Tianyi Feng; Ziwan Du; Ke Wang; Sergei V. Kalinin; Jing-Feng Li; Qian Li#; Delineating complex ferroelectric domain structures via second harmonic generation spectral imaging, Journal of Materiomics, 2023, 9(2): 395-402
(11) Qian Li#; Bo Wang; Qian He; Pu Yu; Long-Qing Chen; Sergei V. Kalinin; Jing-Feng Li ; Ferroelastic Nanodomain-mediated Mechanical Switching of Ferroelectricity in Thick Epitaxial Films, Nano Letters, 2020, 21(1): 445-452
(12) Haozhi Sha; Yunpeng Ma; Guoping Cao; Jizhe Cui; Wenfeng Yang; Qian Li#; Rong Yu#; Subnanometer-scale mapping of crystal orientation and depth-dependent structure of dislocation cores in SrTiO3, Nature Communications, 2023, 14(1): 162
(13) Jinfeng Dong; Yilin Jiang; Yandong Sun; Jue Liu; Jun Pei; Wei Li; Xian Yi Tan; Lei Hu; Ning Jia; Ben Xu; Qian Li#; Jing-Feng Li#; Qingyu Yan#; Mercouri G. Kanatzidis#; Discordant Distortion in Cubic GeMnTe2 and High Thermoelectric Properties of GeMnTe2-x%SbTe, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2023, 145(3): 1988-1996
(14) Gao Jing; Li Wei; Liu Jue; Li Qian#; Li Jingfeng#; Local Atomic Configuration in Pristine and A-Site Doped Silver Niobate Perovskite Antiferroelectrics, Research, 2022, 2022(2): 9782343
(15) Liang Shu; Xin Zhang; Wei Li; Jing Gao; Hongliang Wang; Yu Huang; Yue-Yu-Shan Cheng; Qian Li#; Lisha Liu#; Jing-Feng Li#; Phase-pure antiferroelectric AgNbO3 films on Si substrates: chemical solution deposition and phase transitions, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2022,10(23): 12632-12642