I received the B.S. degree in Applied Physics with honors from Tongji University, Shanghai, China, in 1998, and the M.S. degree in Condensed Matter Physics from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 2001. I worked in the Surface Physics Lab (national key laboratory) in Fudan University from my senior year through the end of my Master’s study. My research involved the study of the surface and interface electronic structure of semiconductors, especially in organic LEDs, with photoelectron spectroscopy. In the year of 2001, I joined the Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging group, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas. I am pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Applied Physics, an interdepartmental program coordinated through the Rice Quantum Institute, with Professor Daniel Mittleman.
My current research involves terahertz (THz) near-field optical microscopy and waveguides. We developed in our lab an apertureless terahertz near-field optical microscopy (NSOM) system by combining a typical apertureless NSOM configuration with THz time-domain spectroscopy, and observed several unusual phenomena. Particularly, the observation of the pulse propagation on the near-field optical probe led to the discovery of THz wire waveguides. This new THz waveguide exhibits virtually no dispersion, extremely low attenuation and remarkable structural simplicity, which is especially suitable for use in THz sensing and diagnostic systems. As an example of the applications of metal wire waveguides, we demonstrated the first THz endoscope in the world. This result was recently published in Nature, and reported by several media organizations, including Rice News, Science magazine, Optics.org, EE Times, and the Houston Chronicle.
I have authored and co-authored 20 journal and conference papers during my graduate studies.
I am a student member of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optic Society (IEEE/LEOS) and the Optical Society of America (OSA).
I feel a great honor to receive the IEEE/LEOS 2004 Best Student Paper Award. It is a recognition of our efforts and encourages me to proceed in this exciting field.