Rate My Professor Maohai Xie

Professor Maohai Xie is a Professor in the Department of Physics within the Faculty of Science at the University of Hong Kong. He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering in electronic engineering from Tianjin University in 1985, Master of Science in physics from the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1988, and Doctor of Philosophy in physics from the University of London at Imperial College in 1994, along with the Diploma of Imperial College (DIC). After completing his PhD, Xie worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Imperial College London from 1995 to 1997. He joined the University of Hong Kong's Physics Department in 1997 as an Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2002, and to full Professor in 2009, a position he continues to hold. He served as Head of the Department from January 2017 to December 2019. Additionally, he was President of the Hong Kong Physical Society from 2009 to 2013.

Xie’s research is in experimental condensed matter physics, particularly surface and materials science. His group utilizes molecular-beam epitaxy for thin film growth and low-dimensional structures, along with scanning tunneling microscopy, electron diffraction, and photoelectron spectroscopy for surface characterization. Current research focuses on quantum materials, including two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides such as MoSe2 and WSe2, their heterostructures, and phases like blue phosphorene and tellurene. Representative publications include: “Wafer-scale single-crystalline MoSe2 and WSe2 monolayers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at low-temperature — the role of island-substrate interaction and surface steps” (Natural Sciences, 2023); “Charge Density Modulation and the Luttinger Liquid State in MoSe2 Mirror Twin Boundaries” (ACS Nano, 2020); “Quantum Confined Tomonaga–Luttinger Liquid in Mo6Se6 Nanowires Converted from an Epitaxial MoSe2 Monolayer” (Nano Letters, 2020); “Two-dimensional metal-phosphorus network” (Matter, 2020); “Observation of intervalley quantum interference in epitaxial monolayer WSe2” (Nature Communications, 2015); and “Dense network of one-dimensional midgap metallic modes in monolayer MoSe2 and their spatial undulations” (Physical Review Letters, 2014). He has obtained funding as principal investigator from the NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme and Collaborative Research Fund.