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Abstract

In the realm of nanophotonics, where device sizes approach or fall below the wavelength of light, fabrication imperfections—or disorder—become inevitable. While traditionally viewed as a hindrance, disorder is effectively a double-edged sword: it necessitates the design of nanostructures that can withstand geometric fluctuations, yet it also offers unique degrees of freedom that can be harnessed for functionality.

In this presentation, I will showcase my research addressing both aspects of this challenge. I will present theoretical frameworks for optical systems that demonstrate exceptional robustness against disorder [1-4], as well as the design of disorder-assisted optical devices for applications in energy harvesting, coloration, light extraction, and multifunctional metasurfaces [5-10].

1. C. Liu , W. Gao, B. Yang and S. Zhang*, “Disorder-Induced Topological State Transition in Photonic Metamaterials”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 183901 (2017).
2. C. Liu , M. Rybin*, P. Mao, S. Zhang and Y. Kivshar, “Disorder-immune sub-wavelength photonic structures based on Mie metamaterials”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 163901 (2019).
3. C. Liu∗, S. Zhang, S. A. Maier and H. Ren∗, “Disorder-induced topological state transition in optical skyrmion family”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 267401 (2022).
4. Y. Lang, Q Xu∗, F. Huang, X. Yuan, X. Jiang, X. Zhang, J. Gu, L. Du, X. Yuan, C. Liu∗, J. Han∗, W. Zhang, “Experimental Observation of Topological Phase Transition in Optical Meronium”, Adv. Mater. 38(4), e07528 (2026).
5. C. Liu, A. Di Falco, D. Molinari, Y. Khan, B. S. Ooi, T. F. Krauss and A. Fratalocchi*, “Enhanced energy stored in chaotic optical resonator”, Nature Photonics 7, 473 (2013).
6. J. Huang†, C. Liu†, Y. Zhu, S. Masala, E. Alarousu, Y. Han* and A. Fratalocchi*, “Harnessing structural darkness in the visible and infrared wavelengths for a new source of light”, Nature Nanotechnology 11, 60 (2016)
7. P. Mao†, C. Liu†, F. Song, M. Han*, S.A. Maier* and S. Zhang*, “Manipulating disordered plasmonic systems by external cavity with transition from broadband absorption to reconfigurable reflection”, Nature Communications 11, 1538 (2020).
8. P. Mao†, C. Liu†∗, Y. Niu, F. Song, R. E. Palmer, M. Han, S. A. Maier∗ and S. Zhang∗, “Disorder-Induced Material-Insensitive Optical Response in Plasmonic Nanostructures: Vibrant Structural Colors from Noble Metals”, Advanced Materials 33(23), 202007623 (2021).
9. P. Mao†, C. Liu†∗, X. Li†, M. Liu†, M. Han, S. A. Maier, E. Sargent∗ and S. Zhang∗, “Single step-fabricated disordered metasurfaces for enhanced light extraction from LEDs”, Light Sci & App 10, 180 (2021).
10. C. Li†, C. Liu†*, C. Peters, H. Yu, A. Forbes, S. A. Maier, Haoran Ren*, “Disorder-enable synthetic metasurfaces”. arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.04696

Biography 

Changxu is a Lecturer at the Electronic Engineering, University of Exeter. He is a member of the Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation (CMRI) at Exeter. Prior joining this position, he was an Assistant Professor at Northumbria Unviersity, UK. Before that, he worked as a Humboldt Research Fellow and LMU incoming Research Fellow at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany and Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Birmingham, UK.

Changxu got his BSc in Tongji University China, MSc in University of Rochester, USA and PhD in King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia respectively, all in Electrical Engineering.

Changxu's current research interests are in the areas of metamaterials, plasmonics, nanotechnology, and nanophotonics, with particular focus on innovative aspects of wave interaction in disordered and hybrid systems. Changxu's first- and corresponding- author papers have appeared in several high-impact journals, including Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Photonics, Nature Physics, Nature Communications, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review X, Newton, JACS, Advanced Materials.

Anyone interested is welcome to attend.