Jie Gao, PhD

Bio: 

Jie Gao joined the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at Stony Brook University as associate professor in the Fall of 2021. Her research interests include optical and thermal energy harvesting, optical sensing and imaging, nanomanufacturing, opto-mechanics, and quantum optics. The current research projects in her lab range from 2D materials, optical nanostructures, infrared absorbers and emitters to light emission devices. 

 

Education:

• Columbia University, Ph.D. 2012 
• Columbia University, M.S. 2007 
• University of Science and Technology of China, B.S. 2005

 

Professional Experience:

• Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 2021 – Present

 

Awards & Publications: 

• SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2026
• DARPA Young Faculty Award, 2021
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award,  2017
• J. Deka, X. Yang, and J. Gao, "Anisotropic and temperature-tunable second-harmonic vortex generation in ferroelectric NbOCl2 holograms," Laser & Photonics Reviews, 2501523 (2025).
  
• F. Meng, X. Yang, and J. Gao, "High-temperature phonon-assisted upconversion photoluminescence of monolayer WSe2," Applied Physics Letters, 123, 013502 (2023).
  
• H. Tang, L. Stan, D. A. Czaplewski, X. Yang, and J. Gao, "Infrared phase-change chiral metasurfaces with tunable circular dichroism," Optics Express, 32, 20136-20145 (2024).
  
• A. Dasgupta, X. Yang, and J. Gao, "Naturally occurring van der Waals heterostructure lengenbachite with strong in-plane structural and optical anisotropy," npj 2D Materials and Applications, 5, 88 (2021).
  
• Y. Chen, X. Yang, and J. Gao, "3D Janus plasmonic helical nanoapertures for polarization-encrypted data storage," Light: Science & Applications, 8, 45 (2019).

 

For a full listing of Prof. Gao's publications, please visit her Google Scholar page. 

Overview:

Professor Gao’s interdisciplinary research program focuses on the optical, thermal, quantum and mechanical properties of micro-/nano-scale materials and devices, and aims to bridge the knowledge of electromagnetics, nanotechnology, device physics, material science and mechanical engineering into the cross-cutting enabling research areas of energy harvesting, quantum technology, advanced materials, biosensing and information processing.

Highlights & Accomplishments:

• Developed 2D Material Holograms for Information Processing
• Demonstrated Temperature and Strain-Tuning of Phonon-Assisted Upconversion Emission 
• Designed Infrared Chiral Metasurfaces for Thermal Radiation and Molecular Sensing 
  
  

Research Areas:

• Advanced Energy
• Design & Manufacturing
• Optics
• Thermodynamics
  
  

Research Interests

• Energy conversion and storage
• Machine Learning Design for Nanodevices;
• Mid-infrared thermal radiation, sensing and imaging; 
• Nanofabrication of nanomaterials and nanostructures
• Nanophotonic and Metasurface Devices;
• Optical and thermal energy harvesting;
• Quantum and Nonlinear Optics in 2D Material Devices
• Thermophotovoltaics

• Professor Receives NSF Award
• CEAS First Annual Awards Ceremony
• NSF Awards Launch Prof. Gao into CEAS Millionaire's Club
• New Tiger Team Initiative Announcement
• GAANN Fellowship