Phan Manh Huong, Prof.
Center for Materials Innovation and Technology
Professor cum Chief Scientific Officer
Biography
Prof. Phan Manh Huong, commonly known as Manh-Huong Phan among his colleagues and students, is a globally recognized expert in advanced materials, with a focus on nanomaterials and sensor technologies for applications such as energy-efficient magnetic refrigeration, hyperthermia therapy, biodetection, and human healthcare monitoring. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Bristol (UK) in 2006, following an M.S. in Applied Physics from Chungbuk National University (South Korea) in 2003, and a B.S. in Solid-State Physics from Vietnam National University – Hanoi (VNU-HN) in 2000. Since 2019, Prof. Huong has served as a Full Professor of Physics at the University of South Florida, where he previously held positions as Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Senior Postdoctoral Researcher. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Bristol (2006–2007) and began his research career at the Center for Materials Science, VNU-HN (2000–2001).
Prof. Huong’s research group has recently achieved a groundbreaking discovery of room-temperature ferromagnetism in atomically thin van der Waals materials—an innovation with significant implications for the future of opto-spintronics, opto-spin-caloritronics, valleytronics, and quantum computing. His prolific scholarly output includes over 350 peer-reviewed ISI journal articles, more than 18,500 citations, an h-index of 67, along with 10 review articles, 8 book chapters, and 1 textbook. He is also the Founding Member and Managing Editor of Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices—Vietnam’s only Q1-ranked scientific journal.
His outstanding contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including an Honorary Doctorate from VNU-HN (2021), three USF Outstanding Faculty Research Achievement Awards (2017, 2019, 2021), the USF Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award (2018), and a Certificate of Merit for the Advancement of Physical Sciences in Vietnam from the Minister of Science and Technology in 2021. Since 2020, he has consistently ranked among the World’s Top 1% of scientists in his field. Prof. Huong is a highly sought-after speaker, regularly delivering plenary, keynote, and invited lectures at major international conferences such as MMM, ICM, APS, MRS, INTERMAG, TMS, ISAMMA, and IWAMD. He has also served as Conference Chair and Organizing Committee Chair for numerous international conferences on magnetism, nanomaterials, and nanotechnology.
At VinUniversity, Prof. Huong leads the VinUni Center for Materials Innovation and Technology (VinCMIT). With an ambitious vision for 2030, VinCMIT aims to become a world-class research hub in sustainability and high-tech innovation, directly supporting VinUni’s mission to be among the world’s top universities. In addition to his leadership at VinCMIT, he serves on the NAFOSTED Physics Panel (2025–2027) and plays an influential role in shaping national R&D strategies through his advisory work with Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
- Nanomagnetism and nanospintronics
- Smart sensing technologies and biosensors
- Energy-efficient multicaloric materials
- Functional magnetic oxides
- Magnetic nanoparticles and nanomedicine
- Multiferroic films and heterostructures
- Helical magnets and magnetic skyrmions
- Atomically thin van der Waals magnets
- Transition metal chalcogenides and heterostructures
- Quantum materials and devices
- Solid State Physics
- Materials Physics and Applications
- Introduction to Magnetism and Spintronics
- Nanomaterials for Biomedical and Environmental Applications
- Advanced Semiconductors and Devices
- Quantum Materials and Technologies
1. M. Bonilla, S. Kolekar, Y.J. Ma, H. Coy Diaz, V. Kalappattil, R. Das, T. Eggers, H.R. Gutierrez, M.H. Phan*, and M. Batzill. “Strong Room Temperature Ferromagnetism in VSe2 Monolayers on van der Waals substrates,” Nature Nanotechnology 2018, Vol. 13, 289 (6 pages) PDF.
(The discovery of new 2D magnets – one of the most cited articles in the field of 2D magnetism).
(Featured on Nature Nanotechnology Editorial News)
2. Y.T. Hai Pham, M. Liu, V.O. Jimenez, F. Zhang, V. Kalappattil, M. Terrones, and M.H. Phan*, “Tunable Ferromagnetism and Thermally Induced Spin Flip in Vanadium-doped Tungsten Diselenide Monolayers at Room Temperature,” Advanced Materials 2020, Vol. 32, 2003607 (7 pages) PDF.
(The discovery of the thermally induced spin flipping effect in 2D semiconductors).
3. F. Zhang, B.Y. Zheng, A. Sebastian, H. Olson, M.Z. Liu, K. Fujisawa, Y.T.H. Pham, V. Ortiz Jimenez, V. Kalappattil, T. Zhang, R. Pendurthi, Y. Lei, A. Laura Elias, Y. Wang, Patrick E. Hopkins, S. Das, V.H. Crespi, M.H. Phan*, and M. Terrones, “Monolayer Vanadium-doped Tungsten Disulfide: An Emerging Room-Temperature Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor,” Advanced Science 2020, Vol. 7, 2001174 (9 pages) PDF.
(The discovery of tunable room-temperature ferromagnetism in 2D semiconductors).
4. V.O. Jimenez, Y.T. Hai Pham, M. Liu, F. Zhang, V. Kalappattil, B. Muchharla, T. Eggers, D.L. Duong, M. Terrones, and M.H. Phan*, “Light-controlled room temperature ferromagnetism in vanadium-doped tungsten disulfide semiconducting monolayers,” Advanced Electronic Materials 2021, Vol. 7, 2100030 (7 pages) PDF.
(The discovery of light-tunable room-temperature ferromagnetism in 2D semiconductors).
5. V.O. Jimenez, Y.T.H. Pham, D. Zhou, M.Z. Liu, V. Kalappattil, T. Eggers, K. Hoang, D.L. Duong, M. Terrones, and M.H. Phan*, Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: Making Atomic-Level Magnetism Tunable with Light at Room Temperature, Advanced Science 2024, Vol. 7, 2304792 (16 pages) PDF
(The discovery of optically tunable ferromagnetism in 2D-TMD heterostructures).
6. M.H. Phan*, M.T. Trinh, T. Eggers, V. Kalappattil, Ken-ichi Uchida, L.M. Woods, and M. Terrones, “A Perspective on Two-dimensional van der Waals Opto-Spin-Caloritronics,” Applied Physics Letters 2021, Vol. 119, 250501 (9 pages) PDF.
(Introduced the new field named “Opto-Spin-Caloritronics”).
7. V. Kalappattil, R. Geng, R. Das, H. Luong, M. Pham, T. Nguyen, A. Popescu, L.M. Woods, M. Klaui, H. Srikanth, and M.H. Phan*, Giant Spin Seebeck effect through an Interface Organic Semiconductor, Materials Horizons 2020, Vol. 7, 1413 (8 pages) PDF.
(Introduced a new “organic spinterface” concept to the field of spin-caloritronics).
8.N.T. Dang, D.P. Kozlenko, O.N. Lis, S.E. Kichanov, E.V. Lukin, N.O. Golosova, B.N. Savenko, D.L. Duong, T.L. Phan, T.A. Tran, and M.H. Phan*, High pressure – driven magnetic disorder and structural transformation in Fe3GeTe2: Emergence of a magnetic quantum critical point, Advanced Science 2023, Vol. 10, 2206842 (12 pages) PDF.
(The discovery of a magnetic quantum critical point in the 2D van der Waals magnet).
9. M.H. Phan* and H.X. Peng, Giant Magnetoimpedance Materials: Fundamentals and Applications, Progress in Materials Science – 2008, Vol. 53, 323 (98 pages) PDF.
10. M.H. Phan* and S.C. Yu, Review of the Magnetocaloric Effect in Manganite Materials, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 2007, Vol. 308, 325 (16 pages) PDF.
(A full list of publications is available at this link)
- 2006: Ph.D. in Engineering Physics, Bristol University, United Kingdom
- 2003: M.S. in Applied Physics, Chungbuk National University, South Korea
- 2000: B.S. in Solid State Physics, Vietnam National University – Hanoi, Vietnam
- Featured in The List of The World’s Top 1 Percent Scientists, 2020-present
- Outstanding American Vietnamese Scientist, honored by the Prime Minister of Vietnam, 2023
- The Outstanding Faculty Research Achievement Award, University of South Florida, USA (2017, 2019, 2021)
- The Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award (HM), University of South Florida, USA, 2018
- The Honorary Doctorate Degree Award, Vietnam National University – Hanoi, 2021
- Certificate of Merit for the Development of Physical Sciences in Vietnam, awarded by the Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam, 2021
- The Medal for The Development Cause of Vietnam National University – Hanoi, Vietnam, 2018
- Managing Editor & Founding Member, Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices (Elsevier-VNU, Q1-ranked journal, IF = 8; 2016 – present) (successfully established, managed, and developed the journal to achieve its top rank among ISI journals on materials science and technology)
- Conference Chair, The 8th Energy Materials Nanotechnology (EMN) Fall Meeting, November 22 – 25, 2014, Orlando, USA (successfully invited more than 250 leading experts to attend and deliver keynote and invited talks for this meeting. Received excellent feedback from all participants)
- International Program Committee Chair & Organizer, International Symposium on Advanced Magnetic Materials and Devices (ISAMMA 2024), August 4-7, 2024, Quang Binh, Vietnam (successfully invited more than 120 leading experts worldwide to attend and deliver plenary, keynote and invited talks for this meeting. Received excellent feedback from all participants)
