Xue Qikun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and also an alumnus of Shandong University, is awarded this year's Oliver E, Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize. [Photo/sdu.edu.cn]

Chinese scientist Xue Qikun, an alumnus of Shandong University, was awarded this year's Oliver E, Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize by the American Physical Society on Oct 24. He is the first Chinese scientist to receive the award.

The Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize is widely recognized as the most prestigious award in the field of condensed matter physics and is set for scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the field.

By making innovative breakthroughs in the research of topological insulators and the discovery of the quantum anomalous Hall effect in topological insulators, Xue is the first Chinese recipient of the award, which was founded 70 years ago.

His research has paved the way for new directions in international condensed matter physics research and is expected to be applied in the development of next-generation, low-energy electronic devices.

Professor Xue was admitted to the Department of Optics at Shandong University in 1980. In 2005, he was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He currently serves as president of the Southern University of Science and Technology. His primary research areas include scanning tunneling microscopy, surface physics, spintronics, topological insulator quantum states, and low-dimensional superconductivity.