据伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校网站显示，曹原获2021年凝聚态物理领域青年物理学家最高奖（William L. McMillan Award），以表彰其在“扭曲双层石墨烯中发现和探索超导电性和相关量子现象”取得成就。

今年7月22日，“天才少年”曹原再次已第一作者+通讯作者的身份在国际顶尖学术期刊Nature上发表了关于魔角石墨烯的最新研究成果。自2018年3月，两篇“背靠背”成果引爆了学术圈后，曹原一直保持着超高频率的顶刊发表速度。迄今已有八篇Nature、1篇Science。

William L. McMillan Award是由伊利诺伊大学物理系颁发给凝聚态物理领域杰出青年学者。据国内媒体报道称该奖为凝聚态物理领域青年物理学家最高奖。

该奖是为了纪念英年早逝的凝聚态物理学家威廉·L·麦克米兰。他在1984年49岁时不幸因车祸去世。他因其对凝聚态物理许多领域的基本和独特贡献而闻名，包括液氦、超导、液晶、层状化合物、旋转玻璃和定位现象。1986年，伊利诺伊大学以他的名义设立了该奖项。

附：迄今William L. McMillan Award获奖者名单

Yuan Cao, 2021

Physics Department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"for the pioneering discovery and exploration of superconductivity and correlated quantum phenomena in twisted bilayer graphene."

Vedika Khemani, 2020

Physics Department

Stanford University

"for seminal theoretical work on novel many-body phases of many-body localization, Floquet systems, and quantum dynamics."

Liang Wu, 2019

Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of Pennsylvania

"for novel terahertz and optical spectroscopy experiments on topological insulators and semimetals."

Barry Bradlyn, 2019

Department of Physics

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"for the development of a predictive theory of topological materials with non-magnetic space groups."

Michael Zaletel, 2018

Department of Physics

University of California, Berkley

"for theoretical and computational breakthroughs in strongly-correlated topological phases of matter including transformative work on the fractional quantum Hall effect."

Luqiao Liu, 2017

Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"for the demonstration of a large spin transfer torque and magnetic switching in metals induced by the spin Hall effect."

Andrea Young, 2016

Department of Physics

University of California, Santa Barbara

"for development of van der Waals heterostructures and discovery of unconventional quantum transport phenomena in graphene heterostructures."

Riccardo Comin, 2015

Sargent Group, Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Toronto

"for ground-breaking studies of the ubiquitous interplay between charge order and high temperature superconductivity in cuprate superconductors by resonant x-ray scattering."

Max Metlitski, 2014

University of California, Santa Barbara

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics

"for contributions to the theory of quantum criticality in metals and to the understanding of topological phases in the presence of interactions."

Tyrel McQueen, 2013

John Hopkins

"for innovative advances in materials design and characterization in the fields of frustrated magnetism and iron based superconductivity."

David Hsieh, 2012

California Institute of Technology

Institute for Quantum Information and Matter

"for studies of topological insulators and their surface states using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and measurements of the helical spin texture of these novel electronic states."

David Schuster, 2011

University of Chicago

James Franck Institute

"for pioneering contributions to the new field of "circuit quantum electrodynamics," particularly experiments coupling microwaves to spin ensembles and the superconducting qubits"

Liang Fu, 2010 (shared)

Harvard University

"for the prediction of three-dimensional topological insulators"

Rahul Roy, 2010 (shared)

Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics

"for the prediction of three-dimensional topological insulators"

Abhay Narayan Pasupathy, 2009

Columbia University

"for his contributions to single-molecule transport spectroscopy and for the development of precise variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy to reveal the connection between local values of the gap and their onset temperatures in high temperature superconductors"

Andrei Bernevig, 2008

Princeton Center for Theoretical Science

"for his insightful contributions to the theory of the quantum spin Hall effect, and for the prediction of the realization of this new state of matter in HgTe quantum wells, subsequently confirmed by recent experiments"

Jason Petta, 2007

Princeton University

"for pioneering experiments involving quantum manipulation of spin and charge in solid state devices"

Yayu Wang, 2006

University of California, Berkeley

"for his ground-breaking Nernst effect and magnetization torque experiments, which have established the existence of large vortex fluctuations throughout much of the pseudogap regime of the high-temperature superconductor LaSrCuO well above its critical temperature"

Peter Armitage, 2005

Johns Hopkins University and

University of Geneva, Switzerland

"for his crucial contributions to the field of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy studies of electron-doped superconductors"

Markus Greiner, 2004

JILA, University of Colorado

"for observing a tunable quantum phase transition between a superfluid and a localized state of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice"

Alessandra Lanzara, 2003

University of California, Berkeley

"for her discovery of a universal energy scale in the nodal quasi-particle spectrum of the cuprate superconductors"

David Goldhaber-Gordon, 2002

Stanford University

"for the first experimental observation of the many-body physics associated with the Kondo resonance in a nanoscale device"

Jay Kikkawa, 2001

University of Pennsylvania

"for the development of new optical resonance schemes to explore the physics of interacting electronic spin systems and to manipulate spin information in the solid state"

Igor L. Aleiner, 2000

State University of New York

"for his broad-ranging and significant contributions to the theory of quantum transport in low-dimensional and mesoscopic systems"

Kathryn A. Moler, 1999

Stanford University

"for her fundamental studies of the superconducting pairing state, Josephson vortices, and the role of interlayer coupling in high temperature superconductors"

Amir Yacoby, 1998

The Weizmann Institute of Science

"for ground-breaking experiments in quantum transport in low-dimensional systems"

Daniel C. Ralph, 1997

Cornell University

"for fundamental contributions to the development and application of experimental techniques for studying nanoscale structures, most notably his measurements of the discrete spectra of electronic states in nanoscale aluminum particles"

Shivaji L. Sondhi, 1996

Princeton University

"for fundamental theoretical contributions to the understanding of the behavior of strongly interacting electrons, including quantum magnetism, quantum phase transitions, and the physics of the quantum Hall effect"

Sean E. Barrett, 1995

Yale University

"for the development of a novel optical pumping technique that made possible the direct detection of the nuclear spins in semiconductor quantum wells"

Raymond C. Ashoori, 1994

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"for high-precision capacitance measurements, one electron at a time, of small quantum dots"

Hong Wen Jiang, 1993

University of California at Los Angeles

"for ground-breaking experiments on the interactions between electrons and magnetic fields in various quantum Hall systems and electron localization phenomena"

R. Eric Betzig, 1992

AT&T Bell Laboratories

"for his significant contributions to the development of near-field optical microscopy, especially for dramatic improvements in resolution and performance"

Bart J. van Wees, 1991

Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

"for pioneering theoretical and experimental work on many areas of quantum transport in mesoscopic systems"

Matthew P.A. Fisher, 1990

IBM, Thomas J. Watson Research Center

"for his innovative work on the superconductor-insulator transition, the votex glass phase in high-temperature superconductors, and macroscopic quantum phenomena"

Peter L. Gammel, 1989

AT&T Bell Laboratories

"for his seminal studies of superfluid 3He and of magnetic structure in both heavy fermion and high-temperature superconductors"

Veit Elser, 1988

AT&T Bell Laboratories and Cornell University

"for his seminal contributions to the field of quasicrystals and for his studies of quantum fluids and quantum spin systems"

A. Douglas Stone, 1987

Yale University

"for pioneering work on transport and localization phenomena in disordered and very small systems"

Thomas F. Rosenbaum, 1986

James Franck Institute, University of Chicago

"for the discovery of three-dimensional Wigner crystallization in HgCdTe at high magnetic fields"

信息来源：https://physics.illinois.edu/people/honors-and-awards/mcmillan-award