Zhexin Zhao, PhD

Postdoc Researcher, Chair of Laser Physics, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (2023 - present)

Research Scientist, Reality Labs Research, Meta (2021 - 2023)

Ph.D., M.S., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (2021, 2018)

Ph.D. minor, Physics, Stanford University (2021)

B.S., Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University (2015)

About me

I am a postdoc researcher under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Peter Hommelhoff at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, studying the interaction among free-electrons, photons, and matter. I did my PhD study on nanophotonics with Prof. Shanhui Fan at Stanford University. After graduation, I worked on photonic design for the augmented reality head-mounted display, as a research scientist, in Reality Labs Research at Meta for 2 years. 

My research focuses on photonics, including electromagnetic theory, light-matter interaction, solar cells, laser-based particle acceleration and modulation, and optical design for augmented reality. (See my research map bellow.) I did my PhD thesis on dielectric laser accelerators, where laser pulses interact with the electron beam in the vicinity of dielectric nanostructures. The goal is to build an efficient and compact particle accelerator on a chip. For more information about my work, please check out the Research page, my CV, and my Google Scholar page.

My research map