ABOUT
Dr. Wenshan Cai is a full professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a joint appointment in Materials Science and Engineering. Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 2012, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. He received his B.S. and M.S. from Tsinghua University in 2000 and 2002, respectively, and his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2008. His research is focused on nanophotonic materials and devices, in which he has made major impacts on the evolving field of plasmonics and metamaterials. His current research interests encompass optical metamaterials & metasurfaces, plasmonic nanodevices, photonic design with artificial intelligence, optical imaging, nonlinear optics, ultrafast phenomena, integrated photonics, and photovoltaics.
Dr. Cai has published ~70 journal articles, which in total have been cited ~20,000 times. He authored the book, Optical Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications, which is used as a textbook or a major reference around the world. He is the recipient of several distinctions, including the OSA/SPIE Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award.
Teaching Interests
Professor Cai’s teaching interests encompass core materials science and engineering topics at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including nanomaterials, electronic materials, and thin film deposition processes. His instruction also emphasizes experimental techniques and characterization methods relevant to materials synthesis and device fabrication. He is committed to integrating research insights into the curriculum to enrich student understanding of advanced materials properties and applications.
PUBLICATIONS & PATENTS
M R Tavakol, W Cai, Nonreciprocal negative refraction enabled by photonic time crystals, Nano Letters 26 (4), 1569, 2026
T Park, S Mondal, W Cai, Interfacing nanophotonics with deep neural networks: AI for photonic design and photonic implementation of AI, Laser & Photonics Reviews 19 (8), 2401520, 2025
AS Kim, A Goswami, M Taghinejad, W Cai, Phototransformation of achiral metasurfaces into handedness-selectable transient chiral media, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 (13), e2318713121, 2024
A Goswami, AS Kim, W Cai, Exploring the synergy between hot-electron dynamics and active plasmonics: A perspective, Journal of Applied Physics 136 (10), 100901, 2024
A S Kim, M Taghinejad, A Goswami, L Raju, K-T Lee, W Cai, Tailored dispersion of spectro-temporal dynamics in hot-carrier plasmonics, Advanced Science, 10 (8), 2205434, 2023
Book
Wenshan Cai and V. M. Shalaev, Optical Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications, ISBN: 978-1-4419-1150-6, Springer, New York, 2010.
Journal articles
L. Raju, K.-T. Lee, Z. Liu, D. Zhu, M. Zhu, E. Poutrina, A. Urbas, and Wenshan Cai, “Maximized frequency doubling through the inverse design of nonlinear metamaterials,” ACS Nano, Vol. 16, No. 3, 3926−3933 (2022).
D. Zhu, Z. Liu, L. Raju, A. S. Kim, and Wenshan Cai, “Building multifunctional metasystems via algorithmic construction,” ACS Nano, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2318-2326 (2021).
Z. Liu, D. Zhu, L. Raju, and Wenshan Cai, “Tackling photonic inverse design with machine learning,” Advanced Science, Vol. 8, No. 5, 2002923 (2021).
W. Ma, Z. Liu, Z. A. Kudyshev, A. Boltasseva, Wenshan Cai, and Y. Liu, “Deep learning for the design of photonic structures,” Nature Photonics, Vol. 15, No. 2, 77-90 (2021).
Y. Wang, J. Yu, Y.-F. Mao, J. Chen, S. Wang, H.-Z. Chen, Y. Zhang, S.-Y. Wang, X. Chen, T. Li, L. Zhou, R.-M. Ma, S. Zhu, Wenshan Cai, and J. Zhu, “Stable, high-performance sodium-based plasmonic devices in the near infrared,” Nature, Vol. 581, No. 7809, 401-405 (2020).
M. Taghinejad, Z. Xu, K.-T. Lee, T. Lian, and Wenshan Cai, “Transient second-order nonlinear media: Breaking the spatial symmetry in the time domain via hot-electron transfer,” Physical Review Letters, Vol. 124, No. 1, 013901 (2020).
Z. Liu, D. Zhu, K.-T. Lee, A. S. Kim, L. Raju, and Wenshan Cai, “Compounding meta-atoms into metamolecules with hybrid artificial intelligence techniques,” Advanced Materials, Vol. 32, No. 6, 1904790 (2020).
Z. Liu, D. Zhu, S. P. Rodrigues, K.-T. Lee, and Wenshan Cai, “Generative model for the inverse design of metasurfaces,” Nano Letters, Vol. 18, No. 10, 6570-6576 (2018).
M. Taghinejad, H. Taghinejad, Z. Xu, Y. Liu, S. P. Rodrigues, K.-T. Lee, T. Lian, A. Adibi, and Wenshan Cai, “Hot-electron assisted femtosecond all-optical modulation in plasmonics,” Advanced Materials, Vol. 30, No. 9, 1704915 (2018).
L. Kang, S. P. Rodrigues, M. Taghinejad, S. Lan, K.-T. Lee, Y. Liu, D. H. Werner, A. M. Urbas, and Wenshan Cai, “Preserving spin states upon reflection: Linear and nonlinear responses of a chiral meta-mirror,” Nano Letters, Vol. 17, No. 11, 7102-7109 (2017).
S. P. Rodrigues, S. Lan, L. Kang, Y. Cui, P. W. Panuski, S. Wang, A. M. Urbas, and Wenshan Cai, “Intensity-dependent modulation of optically active signals in a chiral metamaterial,” Nature Communications, Vol. 8, 14602 (2017).
S. Lan, S. P. Rodrigues, Y. Cui, L. Kang, and Wenshan Cai, “Electrically tunable harmonic generation of light from plasmonic structures in electrolytes,” Nano Letters, Vol. 16, No. 8, 5074-5079 (2016).
S. Lan, L. Kang, D. T. Schoen, S. P. Rodrigues, Y. Cui, M. L. Brongersma, and Wenshan Cai, “Backward phase-matching for nonlinear optical generation in negative-index materials,” Nature Materials, Vol. 14, No. 8, 807-811 (2015).
L. Kang, S. Lan, Y. Cui, S. P. Rodrigues, Y. Liu, D. H. Werner, and Wenshan Cai, “An active metamaterial platform for chiral responsive optoelectronics,” Advanced Materials, Vol. 27, No. 29, 4377–4383 (2015).
S. P. Rodrigues and Wenshan Cai, “Nonlinear optics: Tuning harmonics with excitons,” Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 10, No. 5, 387-388 (2015).
S. P. Rodrigues, Y. Cui, S. Lan, L. Kang, and Wenshan Cai, “Metamaterials enable chiral-selective enhancement of two-photon luminescence from quantum emitters,” Advanced Materials, Vol. 27, No. 6, 1124-1130 (2015).
L. Kang, Y. Cui, S. Lan, S. P. Rodrigues, M. L. Brongersma, and Wenshan Cai, “Electrifying photonic metamaterials for tunable nonlinear optics,” Nature Communications, Vol. 5, 4680 (2014).
S. P. Rodrigues, S. Lan, L. Kang, Y. Cui, and Wenshan Cai, “Nonlinear imaging and spectroscopy of chiral metamaterials,” Advanced Materials, Vol. 26, No. 35, 6157-6162 (2014).
Y. Cui, L. Kang, S. Lan, S. P. Rodrigues, and Wenshan Cai, “Giant chiral optical response from a twisted-arc metamaterial,” Nano Letters, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1021-1025 (2014).
E. C. Garnett, Wenshan Cai, J. J. Cha, F. Mahmood, S. T. Connor, M. G. Christoforo, Y. Cui, M. D. McGehee, and M. L. Brongersma, “Self-limited plasmonic welding of silver nanowire junctions,” Nature Materials, Vol. 11, No. 3, 241-249 (2012).
Wenshan Cai, A. P. Vasudev, and M. L. Brongersma, “Electrically controlled nonlinear generation of light with plasmonics,” Science, Vol. 333, No. 6050, 1720-1723 (2011).
Wenshan Cai, W. Shin, S. Fan, and M. L. Brongersma, “Elements for plasmonic nanocircuits with three-dimensional slot waveguides,” Advanced Materials, Vol. 22, No. 45, 5120-5124 (2010).
Wenshan Cai and M. L. Brongersma, “Plasmonics gets transformed,” Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 5, No. 7, 485-486 (2010).
Wenshan Cai, J. S. White, M. L. Brongersma, “Compact, high-speed and power-efficient electrooptic plasmonic modulators,” Nano Letters, Vol. 9, No. 12, 4403-4411 (2009).
Wenshan Cai, U. K. Chettiar, A. V. Kildishev, V. M. Shalaev, and G. M. Milton, “Nonmagnetic cloak with minimized scattering,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 91, 111105 (2007).
Wenshan Cai, U. K. Chettiar, A. V. Kildishev, and V. M. Shalaev, “Optical cloaking with metamaterials,” Nature Photonics, Vol. 1, No. 4, 224-227 (2007).
Wenshan Cai, U. K. Chettiar, H.-K. Yuan, V. C. de Silva, A. V. Kildishev, V. P. Drachev, and V. M. Shalaev, “Metamagnetics with rainbow colors,” Optics Express, Vol. 15, No. 6, 3333-3341 (2007).
Wenshan Cai, D. A. Genov and V. M. Shalaev, “Superlens based on metal-dielectric composites,” Physical Review B, Vol. 72, 193101 (2005).
V. M. Shalaev, Wenshan Cai, U. K. Chettiar, H.-K. Yuan, A. K. Sarychev, V. P. Drachev, and A. V. Kildishev, “Negative index of refraction in optical metamaterials,” Optics Letters, Vol. 30, No. 24, 3356-3358 (2005).
EDUCATION & AWARDS
- Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 2008
- M.S., Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 2002
- B.S., Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 2000
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Professor Cai’s research focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and application of low-dimensional nanomaterials and thin films. His work explores novel fabrication methods, electronic and optical properties of two-dimensional materials, and their integration into functional devices. The research aims to advance fundamental understanding and practical implementation of nanomaterials in electronics, photonics, and energy-related technologies, involving both experimental and interdisciplinary approaches.