Benjamin Hunt
Associate Professor, Physics, Mellon College of Science
- Pittsburgh PA UNITED STATES
Benjamin Hunt's research centers on condensed-matter physics, particularly the way electrons behave when subjected to extreme conditions.
Biography
Areas of Expertise
Media
Social
Industry Expertise
Accomplishments
Department of Energy Early Career Award
2017
Cottrell Scholar
2019
Education
Cornell University
Ph.D.
Physics
2009
Cornell University
Physics
M.S.
2007
McGill University
B.S.
Physics
2002
Affiliations
- American Physical Society
Links
Event Appearances
“Ising Superconductivity and Proximity Induced Pairing in Monolayer Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides”
(2019) Condensed-Matter Physics Seminar Brown University
“Proximity Induced Superconducting Gap in the Quantum Spin Hall Edge State of Monolayer WTe2"
(2019) Department of Energy - Experimental Condensed Matter Physics - PI Meeting
"Novel Superconductors in Two-Dimensional Materials"
(2019) Physics Colloquium University of New Hampshire
“Comprehensive Undergraduate Nanoscience Lab”
(2019) Cottrell Scholars Conference Tucson, AZ
“Novel Superconductors in Two-Dimensional Materials and Heterostructures”
(2019) Condensed-Matter Physics Seminar University of Utah
Articles
Report on reproducibility in condensed matter physics
Physical Review BAna Akrap, Dominic Bordelon, Shubhayu Chatterjee, E Dan Dahlberg, RP Devaty, Sergey M Frolov, Charles Gould, LH Greene, Samaresh Guchhait, JJ Hamlin, BM Hunt, MJA Jardine, Morteza Kayyalha, RC Kurchin, Vladyslav Kozii, HF Legg, II Mazin, Vincent Mourik, AB Özgüler, J Peñuela-Parra, Babak Seradjeh, Brian Skinner, KF Quader, JP Zwolak
2026-03-20
We present recommendations to improve reproducibility and replicability in condensed matter physics. This area of physics has consistently produced both fundamental insights into the workings of matter and transformative inventions. Our recommendations result from a collaboration that includes researchers from academia and government laboratories, scientific journalists, legal professionals, representatives of publishers, professional societies, and other experts.
Anomalously enhanced diffusivity of moiré excitons via manipulating the interplay with correlated electrons
Nature communicationsLi Yan, Lei Ma, Yuze Meng, Chengxin Xiao, Bo Chen, Qiran Wu, Jingyuan Cui, Qingrui Cao, Rounak Banerjee, Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe, Seth Ariel Tongay, Benjamin Hunt, Yong-Tao Cui, Wang Yao, Su-Fei Shi
2025-11-26
Semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) moiré superlattices provide an unprecedented platform for manipulating excitons. The in-situ control of moiré excitons could enable novel excitonic devices but remains challenging. Meanwhile, as dipolar composite bosons, interlayer excitons in the type-II aligned TMDC moiré superlattices exhibit strong interactions with fermionic charge carriers. Here, we demonstrate active manipulation of exciton diffusivity by tuning their interplay with correlated carriers in moiré potentials.
Quantum Spin Hall Edge States and Interlayer Coupling in Twisted Bilayer WTe2
Nano Letters2022
The quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect, characterized by topologically protected spin-polarized edge states, was recently demonstrated in monolayers of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) WTe2. However, the robustness of this topological protection remains largely unexplored in van der Waals heterostructures containing one or more layers of a QSH insulator.
Tunneling spectroscopy of two-dimensional materials based on via contacts
Nano Letters2022
We introduce a novel planar tunneling architecture for van der Waals heterostructures based on via contacts, namely, metallic contacts embedded into through-holes in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). We use the via-based tunneling method to study the single-particle density of states of two different two-dimensional (2D) materials, NbSe2 and graphene.
Direct measurement of ferroelectric polarization in a tunable semimetal
Nature Communications2021
Ferroelectricity, the electrostatic counterpart to ferromagnetism, has long been thought to be incompatible with metallicity due to screening of electric dipoles and external electric fields by itinerant charges. Recent measurements, however, demonstrated signatures of ferroelectric switching in the electrical conductance of bilayers and trilayers of WTe2, a semimetallic transition metal dichalcogenide with broken inversion symmetry.
Charged bosons made of fermions in bilayer structures with strong metallic screening
Nano Letters2021
Two-dimensional monolayer structures of transition metal dichalogenides (TMDs) have been shown to allow many higher-order excitonic bound states, including trions (charged excitons), biexcitons (excitonic molecules), and charged biexcitons. We report here experimental evidence and the theoretical basis for a new bound excitonic complex, consisting two free carriers bound to an exciton in a bilayer structure.
Electrical probes of the non-Abelian spin liquid in Kitaev materials
Physical Review X2020
Recent thermal-conductivity measurements evidence a magnetic-field-induced non-Abelian spin-liquid phase in the Kitaev material α− RuCl 3. Although the platform is a good Mott insulator, we propose experiments that electrically probe the spin liquid’s hallmark chiral Majorana edge state and bulk anyons, including their exotic exchange statistics.