Education & Certifications


  • B.Eng., Tsinghua University, Electronic Engineering (2020)

Current Research and Scholarly Interests


A light chaser studying photonics from the theoretical perspective. I am devoted to understanding and improving our world using photonic science and engineering.

Photonics from physics. I use fundamental physical principles to manipulate light propagation, which potentially enables novel applications in optical devices.

Photonics for physics. I use photonics to emulate physical systems, which improves our understanding of the physical laws that govern the universe.

My current interest includes photonic systems with nontrivial topology, non-Hermiticity, non-Abelian gauge fields, and in the synthetic dimension.

Lab Affiliations


All Publications


  • Numerical and theoretical study of eigenenergy braids in two-dimensional photonic crystals PHYSICAL REVIEW B Zhong, J., Wojcik, C. C., Cheng, D., Fan, S. 2023; 108 (19)
  • Multi-dimensional band structure spectroscopy in the synthetic frequency dimension. Light, science & applications Cheng, D., Lustig, E., Wang, K., Fan, S. 2023; 12 (1): 158

    Abstract

    The concept of synthetic dimensions in photonics provides a versatile platform in exploring multi-dimensional physics. Many of these physics are characterized by band structures in more than one dimensions. Existing efforts on band structure measurements in the photonic synthetic frequency dimension however are limited to either one-dimensional Brillouin zones or one-dimensional subsets of multi-dimensional Brillouin zones. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a method to fully measure multi-dimensional band structures in the synthetic frequency dimension. We use a single photonic resonator under dynamical modulation to create a multi-dimensional synthetic frequency lattice. We show that the band structure of such a lattice over the entire multi-dimensional Brillouin zone can be measured by introducing a gauge potential into the lattice Hamiltonian. Using this method, we perform experimental measurements of two-dimensional band structures of a Hermitian and a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. The measurements reveal some of the general properties of point-gap topology of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian in more than one dimensions. Our results demonstrate experimental capabilities to fully characterize high-dimensional physical phenomena in the photonic synthetic frequency dimension.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41377-023-01196-1

    View details for PubMedID 37369684

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10300075

  • Artificial Non-Abelian Lattice Gauge Fields for Photons in the Synthetic Frequency Dimension. Physical review letters Cheng, D., Wang, K., Fan, S. 2023; 130 (8): 083601

    Abstract

    Non-Abelian gauge fields give rise to nontrivial topological physics. Here we develop a scheme to create an arbitrary SU(2) lattice gauge field for photons in the synthetic frequency dimension using an array of dynamically modulated ring resonators. The photon polarization is taken as the spin basis to implement the matrix-valued gauge fields. Using a non-Abelian generalization of the Harper-Hofstadter Hamiltonian as a specific example, we show that the measurement of the steady-state photon amplitudes inside the resonators can reveal the band structures of the Hamiltonian, which show signatures of the underlying non-Abelian gauge field. These results provide opportunities to explore novel topological phenomena associated with non-Abelian lattice gauge fields in photonic systems.

    View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.083601

    View details for PubMedID 36898123

  • Optical Neural Network Architecture for Deep Learning with Temporal Synthetic Dimension CHINESE PHYSICS LETTERS Peng, B., Yan, S., Cheng, D., Yu, D., Liu, Z., Yakovlev, V. V., Yuan, L., Chen, X. 2023; 40 (3)
  • Technologically feasible quasi-edge states and topological Bloch oscillation in the synthetic space OPTICS EXPRESS Wu, X., Wang, L., Li, G., Cheng, D., Yu, D., Zheng, Y., Yakovlev, V. V., Yuan, L., Chen, X. 2022; 30 (14): 24924-24935

    View details for DOI 10.1364/OE.462156

    View details for Web of Science ID 000821326000058

  • Truncation-dependent PT phase transition for the edge states of a two-dimensional non-Hermitian system PHYSICAL REVIEW B Cheng, D., Peng, B., Xiao, M., Chen, X., Yuan, L., Fan, S. 2022; 105 (20)
  • Low temperature open-air plasma deposition of amorphous tin oxide for perovskite solar cells THIN SOLID FILMS Zhao, O., Ding, Y., Cheng, D., Zhang, J., Hilt, F., Rolston, N., Jiang, G., Dauskardt, R. H. 2021; 730
  • Arbitrary synthetic dimensions via multiboson dynamics on a one-dimensional lattice PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH Cheng, D., Peng, B., Wang, D., Chen, X., Yuan, L., Fan, S. 2021; 3 (3)