UB’s Hao Zeng elected fellow of the American Physical Society

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Hao Zeng, a University at Buffalo physicist and leading expert in nanoscale magnetic materials, has been elected a 2024 fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).

Zeng, PhD, is Moti Lal Rustgi Professor of physics in the UB College of Arts and Sciences and co-director of UB’s Center for Advanced Semiconductor Technologies. His experimental research combines physics and chemistry to produce nanomaterials for various applications, including in quantum computing, renewable energy and biomedicine. 

APS is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics through research journals, scientific meetings, education, outreach, advocacy and international activities. 

Its fellowships recognize excellence in physics and exceptional service to the physics community. No more than 0.5% of the society's non-student membership is recognized by their peers for fellowships in a given year, with 149 fellows from across the globe selected this year. 

According to the fellowship citation, Zeng was recognized for his pioneering contributions in the development of nanoscale magnetic materials. This includes core-shell nanoparticles, nanocomposites and 2D heterostructures, driven by their fundamental physics and applications in the realms of energy, information, spintronics and biomedicine.

“It is an honor to be a fellow of such a longstanding organization dedicated to advancing physics,” Zeng says. “I am grateful to my mentors, especially my late PhD advisor, Professor David Sellmyer, for their guidance and support. I am also indebted to my past and present group members and collaborators, whose contributions have been instrumental. This fellowship is as much a recognition of their efforts and achievements as it is of mine.”

Zeng is an international leader in materials science and physics, with pioneering work in magnetic nanoparticles, data storage and permanent magnets. 

His research at UB has included manipulating the electronic properties of super-thin materials such as tungsten disulfide in ways that could advance quantum information processing, creating thin films made from barium zirconium sulfide that could be more efficient at converting sunlight into electricity than traditional silicon-based materials, and developing magnetic nanoparticles that could one day fry cancer cells. 

The Center for Advanced Semiconductor Technologies which Zeng co-directs launched earlier this year to advance cutting-edge research in microelectronics and train the next generation of leaders and engineers for the semiconductor industry.

Throughout his academic career at UB, Zeng has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the SUNY Applied Materials Research Institute. He received a prestigious NSF CAREER award in 2006. 

He is also an editor of the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials.