I work on three-dimensional nanophotonic structures, mainly lenses for imaging, beam shaping, and on-chip light control. I design them in simulation, fabricate them with two-photon lithography, and measure how they perform.
Supervised by Dr. Lyudmila Goncharova and Dr. Eric Johlin, in the Nanophotonic Energy Materials group and the Ion Scattering & Nanophysics Lab.
Ph.D. research
Broadband lenses and beam-shaping structures for imaging and on-chip light control, designed with FDTD simulation and adjoint inverse design so they can actually be printed.
Fabrication
Making nanoscale 3D printing more precise, including a 3D-printed pupil filter that confines the exposure along the optical axis, and control of proximity effects.
M.Sc. research
Printed nanolenses on ion-implanted silicon quantum dots in fused silica raised the measured photoluminescence by 5.9 to 21 times, depending on detector numerical aperture.
MEEP, FDTDx, Lumerical, Tidy3D, Zemax
Two-photon lithography, ion implantation, e-beam deposition, sputtering
Steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, PPMS
Python, MATLAB, C++
W. Zhu, L. V. Goncharova, and E. Johlin · Laser & Photonics Reviews 20(20), e71793 (2026)
Read the paper ›W. Zhu, L. V. Goncharova, and E. Johlin · Optics Express 34(22), 41473 (2026)
Read the paper ›L. Mehrvar, W. Zhu, Z. Wang, D. Modasi, and E. Johlin · Additive Manufacturing 110, 104902
Read the paper ›Y. Liu, J. Sun, Y. Jiang, G. Fanchini, W. Zhu, L. V. Goncharova, and L. Liu · ACS Applied Nano Materials 7, 11541–11552
Read the paper ›Western University. Maintaining research equipment and supporting facility users.
University of Toronto, with Prof. Nazir Kherani. Plasmonic platforms for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, with Prof. Jiangang Guo.
Western University. Expected 2028.
Western University. Report on nanolens-enhanced photoluminescence of silicon quantum dots.
University of Toronto. Physics Specialist, Mathematics Minor, High Distinction.
Labs and tutorials in Physics and Astronomy and in Integrated Science, including first-year physics, Introduction to Physical Measurement, Senior Physics Laboratory, and Materials and Biomaterials.
Guided two students through their fourth-year thesis projects.
Western University’s annual undergraduate physics and astronomy conference.
Western University
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western University
AP2D Group, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
University of Toronto
