Ming Zhou

All Publications

• Lubricated Surface in a Vertical Double-Sided Architecture for Radiative Cooling and Atmospheric Water Harvesting. Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) Ahmad, S., Siddiqui, A. R., Yang, K., Zhou, M., Ali, H. M., Hardian, R., Szekely, G., Daniel, D., Yang, S., Gan, Q. 2024: e2404037

  Abstract

  Radiative cooling significantly lowers condenser temperatures below ambient levels, enabling atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) without additional energy. However, traditional sky-facing condensers have low cooling power density, and water droplets remain pinned on surface, requiring active condensate collection. To overcome these challenges, a lubricated surface (LS) coating-consisting of highly scalable polydimethylsiloxane elastomer lubricated with silicone oil-is introduced on the condenser side in a vertical double-sided architecture. The design not only effectively doubles the local cooling power, but also eliminates contact-line pinning, enabling passive, gravity-driven collection of water. Robust AWH is demonstrated from a 30 × 30 cm2 sample in outdoor environments (of varying humidity levels and wind speeds in different months) and with no artificial flow of humidified air. In one outdoor test, the passive water collection rate of LS coating reaches 21 g m-2 h-1 double that on superhydrophobic surface, 10 g m-2 h-1. In indoor testing (20 °C and 80% relative humidity), this system achieves a condensation rate ≈87% of the theoretical limit with up to 90% of the total condensate passively collected. this approach achieves effective AWH in a decentralized approach that removes the need for piping infrastructure and external energy input.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/adma.202404037

  View details for PubMedID 39239994

• Mode distribution impact on photonic crystal surface emitting laser performance APL PHOTONICS Gautam, C., Pan, M., Seth, S., Rotter, T. J., Zhou, M., Thompson, B. J., Gibson, R., Fan, S., Balakrishnan, G., Zhou, W. 2024; 9 (7)

  View details for DOI 10.1063/5.0199361

  View details for Web of Science ID 001281643300001

• Increasing the Q-Contrast in Large Photonic Crystal Slab Resonators Using Bound-States-in-Continuum ACS PHOTONICS Zhou, M., Kalapala, A., Pan, M., Gibson, R., Reilly, K., Rotter, T., Balakrishnan, G., Bedford, R., Zhou, W., Fan, S. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acsphotonics.3c00126

  View details for Web of Science ID 000985514200001

• Dynamically switchable self-focused thermal emission OPTICS EXPRESS Audhkhasi, R., Qu, Y., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Povinelli, M. L. 2023; 31 (8): 13357-13365

  Abstract

  The ability to manipulate thermal emission is paramount to the advancement of a wide variety of fields such as thermal management, sensing and thermophotovoltaics. In this work, we propose a microphotonic lens for achieving temperature-switchable self-focused thermal emission. By utilizing the coupling between isotropic localized resonators and the phase change properties of VO2, we design a lens that selectively emits focused radiation at a wavelength of 4 µm when operated above the phase transition temperature of VO2. Through direct calculation of thermal emission, we show that our lens produces a clear focal spot at the designed focal length above the phase transition of VO2 while emitting a maximum relative focal plane intensity that is 330 times lower below it. Such microphotonic devices capable of producing temperature-dependent focused thermal emission could benefit several applications such as thermal management and thermophotovoltaics while paving the way for next-generation contact-free sensing and on-chip infrared communication.

  View details for DOI 10.1364/OE.484555

  View details for Web of Science ID 000975312500002

  View details for PubMedID 37157474

• Thermal metasurface with tunable narrowband absorption from a hybrid graphene/silicon photonic crystal resonance OPTICS EXPRESS Nagpal, A., Zhou, M., Ilic, O., Yu, Z., Atwater, H. A. 2023; 31 (7): 11227-11238

  Abstract

  We report the design of a tunable, narrowband, thermal metasurface that employs a hybrid resonance generated by coupling a tunable permittivity graphene ribbon to a silicon photonic crystal. The gated graphene ribbon array, proximitized to a high quality factor Si photonic crystal supporting a guided mode resonance, exhibits tunable narrowband absorbance lineshapes (Q > 10,000). Actively tuned Fermi level modulation in graphene with applied gate voltage between high absorptivity and low absorptivity states gives rise to absorbance on/off ratios exceeding 60. We employ coupled-mode theory as a computationally efficient approach to elements of the metasurface design, demonstrating an orders of magnitude speedup over typical finite element computational methods.

  View details for DOI 10.1364/OE.470198

  View details for Web of Science ID 000991584900002

  View details for PubMedID 37155763

• Frequency Response Characteristics of High-Power Photonic Crystal Surface-Emitting Lasers Pan, M., Gautam, C., Kalapala, A., Chen, Y., Rotter, T., Zhou, M., Gibson, R., Bedford, R., Fan, S., Balakrishnan, G., Zhou, W., IEEE IEEE. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1109/IPC57732.2023.10360658

  View details for Web of Science ID 001156890300154

• Resonance for Analog Recurrent Neural Network br ACS PHOTONICS Qu, Y., Zhou, M., Khoram, E., Yu, N., Yu, Z. 2022; 9 (5): 1647-1654

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acsphotonics.1c02016

  View details for Web of Science ID 000804570900021

• Topology optimization of thermophotonic problem for daytime passive radiative cooling INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER Wang, C., Yu, Z., Zhou, M., Qian, X. 2022; 183

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2021.122097

  View details for Web of Science ID 000718895700009

• Inverse Design of Metasurfaces Based on Coupled-Mode Theory and Adjoint Optimization ACS PHOTONICS Zhou, M., Liu, D., Belling, S. W., Cheng, H., Kats, M. A., Fan, S., Povinelli, M. L., Yu, Z. 2021; 8 (8): 2265-2273

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acsphotonics.1c00100

  View details for Web of Science ID 000687190500011

• Self-Focused Thermal Emission and Holography Realized by Mesoscopic Thermal Emitters ACS PHOTONICS Zhou, M., Khoram, E., Liu, D., Liu, B., Fan, S., Povinelli, M. L., Yu, Z. 2021; 8 (2): 497–504

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acsphotonics.0c01487

  View details for Web of Science ID 000621063700016

• Subwavelength angle-sensing photodetectors inspired by internally coupled ears in small animals Yi, S., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Fan, P., Behdad, N., Lin, D., Wang, K., Fan, S., Brongersm, M., Panchapakesan, B., Attias, A. J. SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. 2019

  View details for DOI 10.1117/12.2529594

  View details for Web of Science ID 000502134800007

• Subwavelength angle-sensing photodetectors inspired by directional hearing in small animals NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY Yi, S., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Fan, P., Behdad, N., Lin, D., Wang, K., Fan, S., Brongersma, M. 2018; 13 (12): 1143-+

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41565-018-0278-9

  View details for Web of Science ID 000452408300018

• Subwavelength angle-sensing photodetectors inspired by directional hearing in small animals (vol 13, pg 1143, 2018) NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY Yi, S., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Fan, P., Behdad, N., Lin, D., Wang, K., Fan, S., Brongersma, M. 2018; 13 (12): 1191

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41565-018-0322-9

  View details for Web of Science ID 000452408300026

• Author Correction: Subwavelength angle-sensing photodetectors inspired by directional hearing in small animals. Nature nanotechnology Yi, S., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Fan, P., Behdad, N., Lin, D., Wang, K. X., Fan, S., Brongersma, M. 2018

  Abstract

  In the version of this Letter originally published, Zongfu Yu was mistakenly not noted as being a corresponding author; this has now been corrected in all versions of the Letter.

  View details for PubMedID 30443033

• Subwavelength angle-sensing photodetectors inspired by directional hearing in small animals. Nature nanotechnology Yi, S., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Fan, P., Behdad, N., Lin, D., Wang, K. X., Fan, S., Brongersma, M. 2018

  Abstract

  Sensing the direction of sounds gives animals clear evolutionary advantage. For large animals, with an ear-to-ear spacing that exceeds audible sound wavelengths, directional sensing is simply accomplished by recognizing the intensity and time differences of a wave impinging on its two ears1. Recent research suggests that in smaller, subwavelength animals, angle sensing can instead rely on a coherent coupling of soundwaves between the two ears2-4. Inspired by this natural design, here we show a subwavelength photodetection pixel that can measure both the intensity and incident angle of light. It relies on an electrical isolation and optical coupling of two closely spaced Si nanowires that support optical Mie resonances5-7. When these resonators scatter light into the same free-space optical modes, a non-Hermitian coupling results that affords highly sensitive angle determination. By straightforward photocurrent measurements, we can independently quantify the stored optical energy in each nanowire and relate the difference in the stored energy between the wires to the incident angle of a light wave. We exploit this effect to fabricate a subwavelength angle-sensitive pixel with angular sensitivity, deltatheta=0.32°.

  View details for PubMedID 30374161

• Silicon single-photon avalanche diodes with nano-structured light trapping NATURE COMMUNICATIONS Zang, K., Jiang, X., Huo, Y., Ding, X., Morea, M., Chen, X., Lu, C., Ma, J., Zhou, M., Xia, Z., Yu, Z., Kamins, T. I., Zhang, Q., Harris, J. S. 2017; 8: 628

  Abstract

  Silicon single-photon avalanche detectors are becoming increasingly significant in research and in practical applications due to their high signal-to-noise ratio, complementary metal oxide semiconductor compatibility, room temperature operation, and cost-effectiveness. However, there is a trade-off in current silicon single-photon avalanche detectors, especially in the near infrared regime. Thick-junction devices have decent photon detection efficiency but poor timing jitter, while thin-junction devices have good timing jitter but poor efficiency. Here, we demonstrate a light-trapping, thin-junction Si single-photon avalanche diode that breaks this trade-off, by diffracting the incident photons into the horizontal waveguide mode, thus significantly increasing the absorption length. The photon detection efficiency has a 2.5-fold improvement in the near infrared regime, while the timing jitter remains 25 ps. The result provides a practical and complementary metal oxide semiconductor compatible method to improve the performance of single-photon avalanche detectors, image sensor arrays, and silicon photomultipliers over a broad spectral range.The performance of silicon single-photon avalanche detectors is currently limited by the trade-off between photon detection efficiency and timing jitter. Here, the authors demonstrate how a CMOS-compatible, nanostructured, thin junction structure can make use of tailored light trapping to break this trade-off.

  View details for PubMedID 28931815

• High-sensitivity silicon ultraviolet p plus -i-n avalanche photodiode using ultra-shallow boron gradient doping APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS Xia, Z., Zang, K., Liu, D., Zhou, M., Kim, T., Zhang, H., Xue, M., Park, J., Morea, M., Ryu, J., Chang, T., Kim, J., Gong, S., Kamins, T. I., Yu, Z., Wang, Z., Harris, J. S., Ma, Z. 2017; 111 (8)

  View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4985591

  View details for Web of Science ID 000408570000005

• Subwavelength Angle Sensing Photodetector Yi, S., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Fan, P., Lin, D., Fan, S., Brongersma, M., IEEE IEEE. 2017

  View details for Web of Science ID 000427296202462

• Simulation of a high-efficiency and low-jitter nanostructured silicon single-photon avalanche diode OPTICA Ma, J., Zhou, M., Yu, Z., Jiang, X., Huo, Y., Zang, K., Zhang, J., Harris, J. S., Jin, G., Zhang, Q., Pan, J. 2015; 2 (11): 974-979

  View details for DOI 10.1364/OPTICA.2.000974

  View details for Web of Science ID 000365738100011

• Analog of superradiant emission in thermal emitters PHYSICAL REVIEW B Zhou, M., Yi, S., Luk, T., Gan, Q., Fan, S., Yu, Z. 2015; 92 (2)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.92.024302

  View details for Web of Science ID 000357855900007