Narrative CV

Dr. Yu-Jung Lu is an Associate Research Fellow at the Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at National Taiwan University. She earned her Ph.D. in Physics from National Tsing Hua University in 2013 and later joined Caltech as a postdoctoral researcher from 2015 to 2017. Dr. Lu is a renowned materials physicist specializing in active plasmonics, nanophotonics, and metasurfaces. Her recent research has focused on developing novel ceramic plasmonic materials based on conductive nitrides. She has systematically explored their plasmonic behavior and engineered nanostructures to enhance light–matter interactions at the nanoscale, leading to significant advancements in energy conversion, sensing, and quantum photonic applications. The relevant research is currently conducted in collaboration with TSMC.

She has chaired, co-chaired, and served on committees for international symposiums. She has delivered over 50 invited talks at international nanophotonics conferences. As a mentor, she has guided more than 65 graduate students, research assistants, and postdocs, cultivating the next generation of researchers. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for APL Quantum, Advanced Photonics, and the Journal of Lightwave Technology. Her contributions have earned her numerous honors, including the Career Development Award (2018), the Youth Optical Engineering Medal (2020), SPIE Senior Member (2023), MRS Early Career Distinguished Presenters (2024), Future Tech Award (2024), IEEE Senior Member (2025) and iSPN Young Researcher Award (2025). Her research is widely published in high-impact journals such as Nature Communications, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, ACS Photonics, Nature Nanotechnology, and Science.

Education

• Ph.D. in Physics, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) (2013)

Positions and Career

• Associate Research Fellow, Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica (2022 – )
• Joint Appointment Professor, Department of Physics, National Taiwan University (2018 – )
• Assistant Research Fellow, RCAS, Academia Sinica (2017 – 2022)
• Visiting Scholar, Applied Physics and Materials Science, Caltech, USA (2017 – )
• Postdoctoral Scholar, Applied Physics and Materials Science, Caltech, USA (2015 – 2017)
• Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University (2013– 2015)

Honors and Awards

• 2025 Young Researcher Award, iSPN 2025, Singapore
• 2024 Future Tech Award, NSTC, Taiwan
• 2024 MRS Early Career Distinguished Presenters, USA
• 2023 SPIE Senior Members, USA
• 2021 SPIE Women in Optics Planner, USA
• 2020 Youth Photonics Award, Taiwan Photonics Society,Taiwan
• 2018 Career Development Award, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
• 2018 56th Ten Outstanding Young Persons, Taiwan
• 2014 Postdoctoral Research Abroad Fellowship, Taiwan
• 2013 Taiwan Outstanding Women in Science - Chui-Chu Mon Fellowship, Taiwan
• 2013 Chien-Shiung Wu Fellowship, Taiwan Physical Society, Taiwan
• 2010 The President's Scholarship of NTHU, Taiwan
• 2010 The Honorary Member of the Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society, Taiwan
• Associate Editor of Optics Continuum (Optica; 2021- 2023)
• Associate Editor of Advanced Photonics (SPIE; 2021- present)
• Associate Editor of Journal of Lightwave Technology (IEEE; 2022- present)
• Associate Editor of APL Quantum (AIP; 2023- present)

Selected Publications

• Wei-Ren Syong, Jui-Han Fu, Yu-Hsin Kuo, Yu-Cheng Chu, Mariam Hakami, Tzu-Yu Peng, Jason Lynch, Deep Jariwala, Vincent Tung, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Enhancing Photogating Gain in Scalable MoS₂ Plasmonic Photodetectors via Resonant Plasmonic Metasurfaces. ACS Nano 18, 5446–5456 (2024)
• Jing-Wei Yang, Tzu-Yu Peng, Daniel D. A. Clarke, Frank Daniel Bello, Jia-Wern Chen, Hao-Chen Yeh, Wei-Ren Syong, Chi-Te Liang, Ortwin Hess*, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Nanoscale Gap-Plasmon-Enhanced Superconducting Photon Detectors at Single-Photon Level. Nano Letters 23, 11387–11394 (2023)
• Mriganka Singh#, I-Hung Ho#, Anupriya Singh, Ching-Wen Chan, Jing-Wei Yang, Tzung-Fang Guo, Hyeyoung Ahn, Vincent Tung, Chih Wei Chu, and Yu-Jung Lu*. Unveiling Ultrafast Carrier Extraction in Highly Efficient 2D/3D Bilayer Perovskite Solar Cells. ACS Photonics 9, 3584–3591(2022)
• Zong-Yi Chiao, Yu-Chia Chen, Jia-Wern Chen, Yu-Cheng Chu, Jing- Wei Yang, Tzu-Yu Peng, Wei-Ren Syong, Ho Wai Howard Lee, Shi-Wei Chu, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Full-Color Generation Enabled by Refractory Plasmonic Crystals. Nanophotonics 11, 2891–2899 (2022)
• Meng-Ju Yu, Chih-Li Chang, Hao-Yu Lan, Zong-Yi Chiao, Yu-Chia Chen, Ho Wai Howard Lee, Yia-Chung Chang, Shu-Wei Chang, Takuo Tanaka, Vincent Tung, Ho-Hsiu Chou*, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Plasmon- Enhanced Solar-Driven Hydrogen Evolution Using Titanium Nitride Metasurface Broadband Absorbers. ACS Photonics 8, 3125–3132 (2021).
• Hao-Yu Lan, Yu-Hung Hsieh, Zong-Yi Chiao, Deep Jariwala, Min- Hsiung Shih, Ta-Jen Yen, Ortwin Hess, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Gate- Tunable Plasmon-Enhanced Photodetection in a Monolayer MoS₂ Phototransistor with Ultrahigh Photoresponsivity. Nano Letters 21, 3083–3091 (2021).
• Yu-Jung Lu*, Teng Lam Shen, Kang-Ning Peng, Pi-Ju Cheng, Shu- Wei Chang, Ming-Yen Lu, Chih Wei Chu, Tzung-Fang Guo, and Harry Atwater*, Upconversion Plasmonic Lasing from an Organolead Trihalide Perovskite Nanocrystal with Low Threshold. ACS Photonics 8, 335–342 (2021).
• Yu-Hung Hsieh, Bo-Wei Hsu, Kang-Ning Peng, Kuan-Wei Lee, Chih Wei Chu, Shu-Wei Chang, Hao-Wu Lin*, Ta-Jen Yen*, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Perovskite Quantum Dot Lasing in a Gap-Plasmon Nanocavity with Ultralow Threshold, ACS Nano 14, 11670–11676 (2020).

• Yen-Yu Wang^#, Xing-Hao Lee^#, Chiung-Han Chen, Linchyn Yuan, Yin-Ti Lai, Tzu-Yu Peng, Jia-Wern Chen, Chu-Chen Chueh*, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Plasmon-Enhanced Exciton Re-Localization in Quasi-2D Perovskites for Low-Threshold Room-Temperature Plasmonic Lasing. Science Advances 11, eadu6824 (2025)
• Tzu-Yu Peng#, Jason Lynch#, Jing-Wei Yang, Yen-Yu Wang, Xing-Hao Lee, Ben R. Conran, Clifford McAleese, Deep Jariwala*, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Polariton-Mediated Ultrafast Energy Transfer in a van der Waals Superlattice. ACS Nano 19, 8152–8161 (2025)
• Wei-Ren Syong, Jui-Han Fu, Yu-Hsin Kuo, Yu-Cheng Chu, Mariam Hakami, Tzu-Yu Peng, Jason Lynch, Deep Jariwala, Vincent Tung, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Enhancing Photogating Gain in Scalable MoS2 Plasmonic Photodetectors via Resonant Plasmonic Metasurfaces. ACS Nano 18, 5446–5456 (2024)
• Jing-Wei Yang, Tzu-Yu Peng, Daniel D. A. Clarke, Frank Daniel Bello, Jia-Wern Chen, Hao-Chen Yeh, Wei-Ren Syong, Chi-Te Liang, Ortwin Hess*, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Nanoscale Gap-Plasmon-Enhanced Superconducting Photon Detectors at Single-Photon Level. Nano Letters 23, 11387–11394 (2023)
• Hao-Yu Lan, Yu-Hung Hsieh, Zong-Yi Chiao, Deep Jariwala, Min-Hsiung Shih, Ta-Jen Yen, Ortwin Hess, and Yu-Jung Lu*, Gate-Tunable Plasmon-Enhanced Photodetection in a Monolayer MoS2 Phototransistor with Ultrahigh Photoresponsivity. Nano Letters 21, 3083–3091 (2021).