Current Members

Dr. David R. Smith is the William Bevan Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Duke University, where he also serves as Director for the Center of Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics. Dr. Smith is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Physics Department at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and is a Visiting Professor in the Physics Department at Imperial College, London. Dr. Smith's research has been focused on advanced electromagnetic materials and composites, including photonic crystals and metamaterials.

Bethany Day is the Assistant Director for the Duke Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics. Bethany coordinates activities, visits and events for the Center, and serves as the main contact for the industrial affiliates and other collaborative programs.

Jack Mock is a Research Associate. Jack received his B.S. degree from the Physics Department at the University of California, San Diego. Jack has been responsible for designing and building virtually all of the optical and microwave apparatus in the lab. He has had extensive experience in the optical microscopy of plasmon resonant nanoparticles, and has performed extensive studies on the correlation of enhanced Raman spectra with the physical properties of nanoparticles.

Dr. Yaroslav Urzhumov is a Research Faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, specializing in the numerical simulation of metamaterials and plasmonic nanosystems. Dr. Urzhumov received his PhD in Physics from the University of Texas, Austin, and subsequently spent two years as a technical associate at COMSOL. Dr. Urzhumov specializes in developing analysis techniques for problems involving multiple physical processes, including hybrid metamaterials.

Dr. Stephane Larouche is currently a post-doctoral fellow in our group, studying various aspects of linear and nonlinear metamaterials and plasmons. Dr. Larouche received his PhD in engineering physics from the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, under the supervision of Ludvik Martinu. Dr. Larouche has developed advanced methods for the design of optical filters with arbitrary refractive indices. He has developed a retrieval method for the characterization of nonlinear metamaterials, and currently leads several projects in the lab including infrared metamaterials.

Dr. Tom Driscoll is currently a research scientists in our group. Dr. Driscoll received his PhD from the University of California, San Diego, where he maintains a Visiting Scholar position. Dr. Driscoll has worked on a variety of problems related to homogenization and tuning of metamaterials, including the development of "memory metamaterials" that make use of vanadium oxide to store an electromagnetic state. Currently Dr. Driscoll is investigating the use of metamaterials in various antenna configurations.

Dr. Cristian Ciraci is currently a research scientists in our group, developing numerical simulation approaches for nonlinear metamaterials and nanoplasmonic structures. Dr. Ceraci received his PhD from the Groupe d'Etude des Semiconducteurs at the Universite Montpellier, where he employed a variety of numerical methods to the study of electromagnetic wave propagation in complex media, with an emphasis on nonlinear optical phenomena.

Vinh Nguyen is a graduate student working on quasi-optical metamaterial elements, a program joint with Toyota. Vihn has completed three interships at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he has performed measurements on metamaterial gradient index lenses that operate at W-band frequencies. Vinh has also worked on the theory and simulation of hybrid metamaterials formed by depositing metamaterial elements on semiconducting substrates.

Da Huang is a graduate student researcher who studies the properties of nonlinear metamaterials. Da has made numerous contributions in the area of nonlinear metamaterials, including theory, numerical simulation and experimental validation. Using a varactor loaded split-ring resonator (VLSRR) metamaterial, Da has experimentally demonstrated such phenomena as self-phase modulation, second harmonic generation and wave mixing. Da has also completed two internships with Mitsubishi, where he has investigated the use of metamaterials for wireless power transfer applications.

Nathan Landy is a graduate student researcher in Prof. Smith's group, engaged in studying a number of problems related to metamaterial antennas and transformation optics. Previously, Nathan worked as a Technical Associate in the group of Willie Padilla at Boston College, where he pursued the development of metamaterial "perfect absorbers" at microwave and infrared wavelengths, as well as quasi-conformal methods applied to transformation optical media. Most recently, Nathan has extended the quasi-conformal transformation optical technique to the design of three dimensional media.

John Hunt is a graduate student researcher studying transformation optical media of various types. John has co-developed a relaxation method for the design of gradient index and quasi-conformal metamaterials, based on the use of constant sized holes drilled into dielectric structures. Using this approach, John has designed a flattened Luneburg lens and other devices that he has subsequently fabricated and tested. John has completed an internship at Intellectual Ventures, where he worked on metamaterial related technologies. Visit John's webpage.

Alec Rose is a graduate student researcher currently specializing in various theoretical aspects of nonlinear metamaterials. Alec has extended the nonlinear transfer matrix method to investigate higher-order wave mixing phenomena, including the retrieval of higher-order susceptibilities by observation of mixing components. Alec has also studied the possibilities associated with using nonlinear metamaterials for phase and quasi-phase matching.

Guy Lipworth is a graduate student researcher designing metamaterials that have controlled response at infrared wavelengths.