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Biography
Jack Kramer received his B.S. from the University of New Mexico in 2021 and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His research has focused on millimeter-wave and sub-terahertz acoustic systems leveraging lithium niobate thin films. His interests include the further integration of these systems into hybrid optical and quantum systems.
He received best student paper awards at IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (IFCS) in 2023 and IEEE International Conference on Microwave Acoustics and Mechanics (IC-MAM) in 2022. He also received the 2024 Ben Streetman Junior Researcher Award, the 2025 University of Texas Continuing Fellowship, and the 2025 Texas Quantum Institute Fellowship.
Research Directions
Approaching Terahertz Acoustics
Piezoelectric acoustic wave devices are utilized broadly in consumer electronics. These devices serve important roles such as oscillators, filters, sensors, and transducers. However, until recently, these devices have always operated in a frequency range below 10 gigahertz due to challenges associated with design and fabrication. To overcome this, implementing clever configurations of thin film lithium niobate provided an opportunity to upscale the operation of frequency into the tens to even hundreds of gigahertz. Continuing work on this front aims to explore the ultimate frequency limits of acoustics as elastic theory transitions to being dominated by the quantum interactions of phonons.
Highlighted relevant publications:
Jack Kramer, Sinwoo Cho, Michael E Liao, Kenny Huynh, Omar Barrera, Lezli Matto, Mark S Goorsky, Ruochen Lu, "57 GHz Acoustic Resonator with k2 of 7.3 % and Q of 56 in Thin-Film Lithium Niobate", 2022 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM)
Jack Kramer, Bryan T Bosworth, Lezli Matto, Nicholas R Jungwirth, Omar Barrera, Florian Bergmann, Sinwoo Cho, Vakhtang Chulukhadze, Mark Goorsky, Nathan D Orloff, Ruochen Lu, "Acoustic resonators above 100 GHz" Applied Physics Letters 2025
Hybrid Acoustic Structures
Conventional piezoelectric acoustic systems utilize a single piezoelectric layer. This usually is used to form a cavity or to transduce acoustic waves into another medium. However, introducing additional functional layers opens the doors for creating coupled systems that can offer greater opportunities. This could include implementing multi-orientation piezoelectric layers to tune acousto-optic coupling, introducing hybrid semiconductor-piezoelectric structures to enable frequency mixing and nonlinear effects, or stacking 2D materials on piezoelectrics to provide strain tuning of optical absorption. On going work includes exploring these opportunities for optimized hybrid systems.
Highlighted relevant publications:
Jack Kramer, Ruochen Lu, "A Generalized Acoustic Framework for Multilayer Piezoelectric Platforms", IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 2025
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