Rashid Zia
Assistant Professor of Engineering:
Engineering
Phone: +1 401 863 6351
Rashid_Zia@brown.edu
As an optical physicist, Rashid is interested in how light interacts with matter. His research focuses on the unique optical properties of nanostructured materials. As an electrical engineer though, he is eager to exploit such properties in new devices. For example, his group is investigating methods to enhance light emission from the phosphors used in LEDs. They hope that these studies will help future generations of efficient LEDs replace conventional incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.
Biography
Rashid Zia is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Brown Univeristy and the Director of the Brown Microelectronics Central Facility. In 2001, Rashid graduated from Brown University with a combined A.B. in English and American Literature and Sc.B. in Engineering. He then went on to receive both his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, where he was the first graduate student in the laboratory of Professor Mark L. Brongersma. Following his graduate studies, Rashid spent six months in the Laboratoire de Physique at the Universite de Bourgogne (Dijon, France) before returning to start the Laboratory for Subwavelength Optics at Brown Universtity. As a student, Rashid was the recipient of a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, an honorary Stanford Graduate Fellowship, and a Tau Beta Pi Fellowship as well as the Domenico A. Ionata Award from Brown University. Rashid's current research support includes a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a gift from the Nanoelectronic Research Initiative (NRI) of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). Rashid was also recently named as a recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.
Interests
Research Interests:
● High Efficiency Light Emitters. Enhanced light-matter interactions in LEDs.
● Modified Selection Rules for Atomic Transitions. Forbidden Transitions.
● Quantitative Near-Field Microscopy. Selective Detection of Electromagnetic Waves.
● High Speed Optical Switching. Gain-Loss Cavities for use in Optical Modulators.
Awards
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
NSF Career Award
Graduate Honors:
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow, 2001-2004.
Honorary Stanford Graduate Fellow, 2001-2004.
Tau Beta Pi Fellow, 2001
Undergraduate Honors:
Phi Beta Kappa, liberal arts honor society.
Sigma Xi, scientific research society.
Tau Beta Pi, engineering honor society.
Dominco A. Ionata Premium Award, presented for creativity and imagination in research.
Affiliations
American Physical Society (APS)
Materials Research Society (MRS)
Optical Society of America (OSA)
Registered Patent Agent with the US Patent and Trademark Office
Funded Research
NSF CAREER Award, "Optical Frequency, Quantum Magnetic Resonances for Photonic Devices." ($400,000, March 2009)
Salomon Research Award, "Direct Laser-Writing of Epitaxial Graphene." ($15,000, December 2008)
Brown Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation (IMNI), Summer Intern Award, "Experimental Confirmation of Magnetic Dipole Emission: Toward realizing optical frequency metamaterials."
($4,000, June 2008)
