Suyang Xu awarded grant by Star-Friedman Challenge

Suyang Xu is a grant recipients of this year’s Star-Friedman Challenge for Promising Scientific Research.  

The program provides seed funding for Harvard faculty to conduct research in the life, physical, and social sciences. Star-Friedman supports promising research that might not be funded by traditional sources and encourages investigators to explore new directions branching off their previous work.

The program was established in 2013 by a gift from James A. Star ’83 and expanded five years later by support from Josh Friedman ’76, M.B.A. ’80, J.D. ’82, and Beth Friedman. The 2025 winners were recognized in a ceremony at University Hall on Wednesday.

Turn the best photovoltaics into new high Tc superconductors; realize unconventional superconductivity in twisted perovskites

Suyang Xu, Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Ashvin Vishwanath, George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics

Project: Can the most promising photovoltaic materials be turned into high-temperature superconductors? This question drives a new collaboration between a theorist and experimentalist of quantum materials.

Goal: Metal halide perovskites have been demonstrated to be an extremely efficient material for solar cells. Now the two investigators propose using these materials for high-temperature superconductors.

They propose that the twisted bilayer of metal halide perovskite may serve as a platform for high-temperature superconductivity. In their proposal they assert, “This seemingly crazy idea is not only possible … but promising.”

In the partnership, Vishwanath will perform theoretical calculations while Xu will lead the experiments. If successful, this application would be a groundbreaking discovery. The researchers also will test theoretical questions and potentially bridge two emerging fields.