Nanfang Yu studies light-matter interaction in the subwavelength scale and its implications for solid-state devices. His lab designs and builds novel infrared optical components and optoelectronic devices to address today’s challenges in security, energy and health care. His research relies on physical intuition and simulations for device design and involves nano-/micro-fabrication and device characterization. His research uses a few key concepts and materials including optical antennas, plasmonic metamaterials and meta-surfaces, semiconductor quantum wells, and active materials such as graphene.

"This is a generation of kids that grew up with data science around them — Netflix telling them what movies they should watch, Amazon telling them what books they should read — so this is an academic interest with real-world applications,” said Chris Wiggins, a professor of applied mathematics at Columbia who is involved in its new Institute for Data Sciences and Engineering. “And,” he added, “they know it will make them employable.” - article by Claire Cain Miller