12/07/2022
By Danielle Fretwell

The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, invites you to attend a doctoral proposal defense by Mohammad Haerinia on “Optical Metasurfaces: Design, Fabrication, and Applications."

Candidate Name: Mohammad Haerinia
Degree: Doctoral
Defense Date: Dec. 21, 2022
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Location: This will be a virtual defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact the student mohammad_haerinia@student.uml.edu and committee advisor hualiang_zhang@uml.edu at least 24 hours prior to the defense to request access to the meeting.

Advisor: Hualiang Zhang, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell    

Committee Members:

  • Wei Guo, Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Xingwei Wang, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Brief Abstract:

Nanotechnology breakthroughs have dramatically developed several disciplines of technologies, including electronics and integrated photonics in recent decades. This new advancement has a tremendous potential for usage in redesigning conventional optical devices such as a microscope, holograms, and medical imaging tools made up of expensive, bulky, sensitive, and complex components. Optical metasurfaces (as planar array of subwavelength scatterers) are designed to tailor wavefront, polarization, and intensity by arranging tiny elements known as “Meta-Atoms”. Metasurface-based optical devices offer several advantages over conventional optics, including compactness, lightweight, and the ability to feature new functions.

In this proposal, a brief background on optical metasurfaces is presented first. Next, metasurfaces based on the platform of freestanding dielectric membrane (capable of controlling light with advanced features described by structural design rather than a chemical composition) are addressed. Then, nano-optic endoscopes for high-resolution and deep-focus optical coherence tomography are discussed. Later, various metalenses operating in different visible wavelengths were designed, fabricated, and demonstrated. Finally, phase change materials (PCMs) and their applications are studied.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend the online defense via remote access.