— 2023-now：Tenure-track Associate Professor，School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiaotong University

— 2017-2022：Postdoc，Department of Physics, University of Konstanz

— 2014-2017：PhD，Department of Physics, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

— 2012-2014：Master，Department of Physics, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

— 2008-2012：Bachelor，School of Physics, Peking University

Colloids are suspensions where micrometer-sized particles (also called colloidal particles) are dispersed in. Examples include milk, blood, drug, shampoo, paint and so on. Due to brownian motions and the possiblity to apply a variety of external controls (e.g. gravity, electric field, magnetic field, laser, temperature), these colloidal particles can show a rich range of dynamics and phase behaviors. This not only allows us to study fundamentals of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics, but also to explore possible applications in material science and biophysics. Here in our group, we are mainly interested in designing experiments to study and control the behaviors of a single or a large number (up to 10^4 or larger) of colloidal particles, in simple or complex environment.

[9] Xin Cao, Debankur Das, Niklas Windbacher, Felix Ginot, Matthias Krüger, Clemens Bechinger. Memory Induced Magnus Effect. Nature Physics 19, 1904-1909 (2023) 

[8] Panizon, E., Silva, A., Cao, X., Wang, j., Bechinger, C., Vanossi, A., Tosatti, E., Manini, N. Frictionless nanohighways on crystalline surfaces. Nanoscale, 15, 1299 (2023). 

[7] Cao, X., Silva, A., Panizon, E., Vanossi A., Manini, N., Tosatti, E., Bechinger C. Moire-pattern evolution couples rotational and translational friction at crystalline interfaces. Phys. Rev. X, 12, 012059 (2022). 

[6] Cao, X., Panizon, E.,Vanossi A., Manini, N., Tosatti, E., Bechinger C. Pervasive orientational and directional locking at geometrically heterogeneous sliding interfaces. Phys. Rev. E 103, 012606 (2021). 

[5] Cao, X., Panizon, E., Vanossi, A., Manini, N., Tosatti, E., Bechinger, C. Pile-up transmission and reflection of topological defects at grain boundaries in colloidal crystals. Nat. Commun, 11, 3079 (2020). 

[4] Cao, X., Panizon, E., Vanossi, A., Manini, N., Bechinger, C. Orientational and directional locking of colloidal clusters driven across periodic surfaces. Nat. Phys. 15, 776–780 (2019). 

[3] Cao, X., Zhang, H. & Han, Y. Release of free-volume bubbles by cooperative-rearrangementregions during the deposition growth of a colloidal glass. Nat. Commun. 8, 362 (2017). 

[2] Su, Y., Lai, P. Y., Ackerson, P. J., Cao, X., Han, Y. & Tong, P. Colloidal diffusion over aquasicrystalline-patterned surface.J. Chem. Phys. 146, 214903 (2017). 

[1] Cao, X., Wang, F. & Han, Y. Ground-state phase-space structures of two-dimensional +-Jspin glasses: A network approach.Phys. Rev. E 91, 062135 (2015).

— 2021：NSFC Excellent Young Scholars Fund (Overseas)

— 2018-2020：Humboldt Fellowship for Postdoc

We are recruiting master and PhD students as well as postdocs interested in soft condensed matter physics, in particular experimental colloid physics. You are welcome to send your application to [xin.cao@sjtu.edu.cn]. An interview will be arranged if we are also interested in your application.