
Current Members
Updated January 24, 2011
Professor David R. Smith (Director, CMIP)
Autumn Wenner (Assistant Director, CMIP)
Professor Ekaterina Poutrina (Assistant Research Faculty)
Professor Yaroslav Urzhumov (Assistant Research Faculty)
Jack J. Mock (Associate in Research)
Paul McLain (Associate in Research)
Dr. Stephane Larouche (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Dr. Tom Driscoll (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Dr. Cristian Ciraci (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Vinh Nguyen (Graduate Student)
Jeffery Allen (Graduate Student)
Da Huang (Graduate Student)
Yu-Ju Tsai (Graduate Student)
Nathan Landy (Graduate Student)
Jack Hunt (Graduate Student)
Alec Rose (Graduate Student)
Guy Lipworth (Graduate Student)
Joining Metagroup
We welcome inquiries from undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral associates, visiting researchers and technical associates interested in participating in our research group! We are a dynamic team with active interests in all forms of metamaterial research, plasmonics, transformation optics, and cloaking, spanning the electromagnetic spectrum from radio and microwaves to visible light. We maintain a close connection with applied aspects of this research, usually pursuing proof-of-concept device implementations in parallel with the science. Positions within the group and the Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics depend on funding and space availability. Please see our Positions page for the most recent information on available positions.
Autumn Wenner is the Assistant Director for the Duke Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics. Autumn 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. Ekaterina Poutrina is a Research Faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, specializing in the theory of active and nonlinear metamaterials. Dr. Poutrina received her PhD from the University of Rochester. Dr. Poutrina has developed an analytical theory for nonlinear metamaterials, in which the higher order susceptibility terms for a structured material can be accurately predicted.
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.
Paul McLain is a Technical Associate in Prof. Smith's group. Paul assists the group in all projects, maintains the lab and equipment, and assists with purchasing and procurement.
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 post-doctoral fellow 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 post-doctoral fellow 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.
Vihn 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.
Jeffery Allen is a graduate student research working on several different projects in the group, including transformation optics and source transformations. Jeffery has applied the source transformation method to illustrate the design of a set of sources and materials such that the combination can be arranged to mimic the characteristics of virtually any radiating source. The results have relevance to conformal antennas. Most recently, Jeffery has been developing unconventional metamaterial radome materials for use with antenna arrays.
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.
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.
Former Members
Nathan Kundtz
January, 2008 - June, 2010
Intellectual Ventures
Program Manager
Fabrizia Ghezzo
July, 2008 - October, 2009
Kuang-Chi Institute
Senior Scientist
Ruopeng Liu
August, 2006 - December, 2009
Kuang-Chi Institute
President
Marco Rahm
September, 2006 - September, 2008
Universitat Kaiserslautern
Junior Professor of Physics
Dan Roberts
September, 2006 - June, 2009
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Graduate Student
Bryan Justice
August, 2005 - February, 2007
SensorMetrix
Staff Engineer
Soji Sajuyigbe
July, 2006 - May, 2010
Intel
Applications Engineer
Cameron Harrison
June, 2007 - October, 2008
Proctor and Gamble
Senior Scientist
Aloyse Degiron
October, 2004 - May, 2009
Universite Paris-Sud and CNRS
Orsay, France
Junior Professor
Jonah Gollub
October, 2004 - October, 2008
Phoebus Optoelectronics
Physicist
David Schurig
October, 2004 - August, 2007
University of Utah
Electrical Engineering Department
Associate Professor