About

Fengnian Xia is the Tso-Ping Ma Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Yale University, with additional appointments in Materials Science. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and a B.S. from Tsinghua University in China. His research focuses on light-matter interaction and photonic devices, carrier transport and electronic devices, and device applications in imaging, communications, and electronics, as well as the integration of emerging and traditional materials. Dr. Xia has received numerous awards and honors, including the Tso-Ping Ma Endowed Chair at Yale, Fellow of the American Physical Society and Optica, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and recognition as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics. His contributions span the development of advanced photonic and optoelectronic devices, with significant innovations in black phosphorus, graphene, and other two-dimensional materials, as evidenced by his extensive publication record and multiple patents.

Research topics

• Physics
• Optoelectronics
• Materials science
• Optics
• Quantum mechanics

Selected publications

• The 2D Materials Roadmap

  Apollo (University of Cambridge) · 2026-01-09

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The advent of 2D materials has revolutionized condensed matter physics and materials science, offering unprecedented opportunities to explore exotic physical phenomena, engineer novel functionalities, and address critical technological challenges across diverse fields. Over the past two decades, the exploration of 2D materials has expanded beyond graphene, encompassing a vast library of atomically thin crystals and their heterostructures. These materials exhibit extraordinary electronic, optical, thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties, and hold promise for breakthroughs in electronics, optoelectronics, quantum technologies, energy storage, catalysis, thermal management, filtration and separation, and beyond. Many exciting new physics and phenomena continue to emerge, while select 2D materials, such as graphene, h-BN, and the semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), are transitioning from laboratory-scale demonstrations to industrial applications. In this context, a holistic understanding of synthesis, structure-property relationships, integration, and performance optimization is essential. This roadmap reviews the multifaceted challenges and opportunities in 2D materials research, focusing on the synthesis, properties and applications of representative systems including graphene and its derivatives, TMDCs, MXenes as well as their heterostructures and moiré systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Bias-tunable temperature coefficient amplification beyond material limits in a single transistor

  Figshare · 2026-04-18

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  All of these files are in excel form.

  PublisherDOI

• Bias-tunable temperature coefficient amplification beyond material limits in a single transistor

  Nature Sensors · 2026-04-17

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Bias-tunable temperature coefficient amplification beyond material limits in a single transistor

  Figshare · 2026-04-18

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  All of these files are in excel form.

  PublisherDOI

• Patient-Based Dosimetric Analysis of Photon GRID SFRT: Insights from a Large Institutional Experience

  International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics · 2025-09-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Breaking the material-limited temperature coefficient of resistance via carrier feedback in a single transistor

  ArXiv.org · 2025-08-19

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) is one of the most fundamental properties of a material. Semiconductor materials exhibiting high TCR are promising candidates for applications in high-resolution thermal imaging for autonomous systems, high-precision temperature sensing, and neuromorphic computing. However, the TCR magnitude is typically below 5%/K near 300 K for thermal imaging materials, such as vanadium oxide and amorphous silicon. Inspired by the distinctive characteristic of feedback in electronic circuits, we demonstrate a voltage-tunable TCR of up to 150%/K near 300 K in a two-terminal InGaAs/InP n-p-n transistor, enabled by an internal coherent carrier feedback mechanism. In this device, current amplification arises from a synergistic interplay between temperature-dependent transistor gain and avalanche multiplication. Carriers amplified at the emitter-base junction via the transistor effect are injected into the collector-base junction, where avalanche multiplication generates additional carriers. These excess carriers are then fed back to the emitter-base junction, triggering further transistor amplification. This regenerative positive feedback loop results in a high and bias-tunable temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). This work reveals the potential of device engineering in overcoming the fundamental material-level physical limits of temperature properties.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Electrically Reconfigurable Intelligent Optoelectronics in 2-D van der Waals Materials

  ArXiv.org · 2025-03-01

  preprintOpen access

  In optoelectronics, achieving electrical reconfigurability is crucial as it enables the encoding, decoding, manipulating, and processing of information carried by light. In recent years, two-dimensional van der Waals (2-D vdW) materials have emerged as promising platforms for realizing reconfigurable optoelectronic devices. Compared to materials with bulk crystalline lattice, 2-D vdW materials offer superior electrical reconfigurability due to high surface-to-volume ratio, quantum confinement, reduced dielectric screening effect, and strong dipole resonances. Additionally, their unique band structures and associated topology and quantum geometry provide novel tuning capabilities. This review article seeks to establish a connection between the fundamental physics underlying reconfigurable optoelectronics in 2-D materials and their burgeoning applications in intelligent optoelectronics. We first survey various electrically reconfigurable properties of 2-D vdW materials and the underlying tuning mechanisms. Then we highlight the emerging applications of such devices, including dynamic intensity, phase and polarization control, and intelligent sensing. Finally, we discuss the opportunities for future advancements in this field.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Electrically reconfigurable intelligent optoelectronics in 2-D van der Waals materials

  Progress in Quantum Electronics · 2025-03-01 · 2 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Hyperbolic phonon-polariton electroluminescence in 2D heterostructures

  Nature · 2025-03-19 · 15 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The 2D Materials Roadmap

  Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) · 2025-03-28 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Over the past two decades, 2D materials have rapidly evolved into a diverse and expanding family of material platforms. Many members of this materials class have demonstrated their potential to deliver transformative impact on fundamental research and technological applications across different fields. In this roadmap, we provide an overview of the key aspects of 2D material research and development, spanning synthesis, properties and commercial applications. We specifically present roadmaps for high impact 2D materials, including graphene and its derivatives, transition metal dichalcogenides, MXenes as well as their heterostructures and moiré systems. The discussions are organized into thematic sections covering emerging research areas (e.g., twisted electronics, moiré nano-optoelectronics, polaritronics, quantum photonics, and neuromorphic computing), breakthrough applications in key technologies (e.g., 2D transistors, energy storage, electrocatalysis, filtration and separation, thermal management, flexible electronics, sensing, electromagnetic interference shielding, and composites) and other important topics (computational discovery of novel materials, commercialization and standardization). This roadmap focuses on the current research landscape, future challenges and scientific and technological advances required to address, with the intent to provide useful references for promoting the development of 2D materials.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Graphene-hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) Heterostructure Infrared Polaritonic Devices

  NSF · $500k · 2016–2022

• EFRI 2-DARE: Few-layer and Thin-film Black Phosphorus for Photonic Applications

  NSF · $2.0M · 2015–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Phaedon Avouris

  55 shared

• Yurii A. Vlasov

  43 shared

• Qiushi Guo

  California Institute of Technology

  40 shared

• Bingchen Deng

  Harvard University

  38 shared

• Solomon Assefa

  Ethiopian Public Health Institute

  28 shared

• Han Wang

  28 shared

• Kenji Watanabe

  National Institute for Materials Science

  27 shared

• Takashi Taniguchi

  26 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Electrical Engineering

  Princeton University

  2005

• MA, Electrical Engineering

  Princeton University

  2001

• BE, Electronics Engineering

  Tsinghua University

  1998

Awards & honors

• Tso-Ping Ma Endowed Chair, Yale University (2024)
• Fellow of American Physical Society (APS) (2023)
• Fellow of Optica (2022)
• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers…
• Highly Cited Researcher, Clarivate Analytics (2017-2023)