We are conducting experimental and theoretical research in the area of photonic devices and systems with current projects focusing on flat optics and photonic integrated circuits. In these projects, we develop miniaturized optical systems with planar form factors and low power consumption that can be mass-produced at low cost. Such systems have many applications in wearable and mobile electronics, health monitoring and medical diagnostics, biosensing, and as integral parts of industrial equipment.

Our research involves design, fabrication, and characterization of planar optical components and systems. In particular, we develop novel free-space optical components and systems based on high contrast transmitarray metasurfaces (i.e. 2D arrays of rationally designed nano-structures). Furthermore, we integrate active devices (e.g. lasers and modulators) with metasurface components in a vertical integration platform. This platform not only introduces a new architecture for the on-chip integration of conventional optical systems (e.g. spectrometers, cameras, and microscopes) but also enables the unprecedented realization of massively parallel optical systems for data processing, communications, and biomedical sensing.

Our other research interests include:

• Active and passive photonic devices and circuits (based on III-V, silicon, silicon nitride, and lithium niobate)
• Nanophotonic devices and their high throughput manufacturing
• Tunable and reconfigurable photonics
• Terahertz metasurface components
• Fast modeling and design techniques for photonic components and systems
• Fundamental limitations of photonic components and engineered materials