I am a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Terahertz Electronics & the Head of the Terahertz Laboratory at the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and a Professor, by courtesy, in the Department of Physics at Ajou University in South Korea. I have published over 37 journal papers, 18 of which as first/corresponding author, and have citations over 1,400 and an h-index over 18 according to Google Scholar.

My PhD programme back in South Korea focused on developing dielectric/biological sensors in the THz frequency region using THz time-domain spectroscopy. One of my papers reported microbial sensing for the first time with THz metasurface. I also investigated perovskite’s crystallisation kinetics using THz spectroscopy and studied a phase transition of perovskite film with an abrupt switch in the growth dimensionality.

Then, I moved to the UK and took up a Research Fellow position at the University of Leeds (2018) where I expanded my expertise in on-chip THz spectroscopy. On-chip THz spectroscopy enables the examination of samples/systems with highly confined in-plane THz waves. I demonstrated on-chip THz tuneable plasmonic devices based on a two-dimensional electron gas channel. I also reported a novel technique to measure the THz permittivity of unknown dielectric materials even for an extremely small amount of specimens using resonators integrated with on-chip waveguides.

In 2021, I joined QMUL to lead the Terahertz Laboratory. Since then, I have been trying to integrate my experience in free-space THz spectroscopy into on-chip THz devices. For example, I reported a significant enhancement in fingerprint detection of an extremely small amount of lactose using on-chip THz devices. A meta-atom probe integrated with the on-chip THz waveguide was also developed to detect colorectal cancer. I am continuing to work on developing free-space THz applications as well and recently reported a study on selective detection of microplastic particles in water using surface-functionalised THz microfluidic metasurface.

2024 – present Queen Mary University of London London, United Kingdom

Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor)

2021 – 2024 Queen Mary University of London London, United Kingdom

Lecturer (Assistant Professor)

2024 – present Ajou University Suwon, South Korea

Professor by courtesy

2021 – 2023 University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom

Visiting Research Fellow

2018 – 2021 University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom

Research Fellow

2022 –  2024 Queen Mary Univesity of London London, United Kingdom

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice

2012 –  2018 Ajou University Suwon, South Korea

PhD in Applied Physics

2008 –  2012 Ajou University Suwon, South Korea

BSc in Physics