Conventional optical devices (e.g., lenses) are very bulky, which cannot keep pace with the continued device miniaturization and system integration. Optical metasurfaces can control light propagation in a desirable manner. Metasurface devices are ultrathin, flat, and ideal for miniaturization and integration. Dr Chen is leading the Experimental Nanophotonics Group, which is dedicated to the fundamental physics of flat optics and its application in ultrathin optical devices for imaging and display, polarization camera, information processing, biomedical sensing and particle trapping.

Supported by EPSRC, Leverhulme, DSTL, Royal Society, Royal Society of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt–Renishaw Strategic Alliance, his research highlights include first dual-polarity metalens for imaging, first image-switchable metasurface holograms for anti-counterfeiting, first multichannel device for manipulation of twisted light beams, and first demonstration of arbitrary polarization profile for image concealment. His PhD students (Dandan Wen and Fuyong Yue) both won PhD thesis Prize at EPS in 2017. To explore the commercial applications of novel metasurface devices, he has built strong connections with industry, including Renishaw, STMicroelectronics, Holoxica and Helia Photonics.

Dr Xianzhong Chen is an associate professor of physics at Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences. He received his PhD degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2004. Prior to joining Heriot-Watt, he was a research fellow in Prof. Shuang Zhang’s group at University of Birmingham.  He has published 80 research papers, which have led to 6000 Google Scholar citations. His publications include Nature Communications, Nano Letters, Advanced Materials, Light: Science and Applications, and Laser Photonics Reviews. His previous work on macroscopic invisibility cloaking was selected as one of the "top 10 breakthroughs for 2010" by Physics World, "top 100 stories in 2011" by Discover Magazine, and received wide media coverage including BBC News, Channel 4, ITV, and USA Today.

1. R. Wang, Y. Intaravanne, S. Li, J. Han, S. Chen, J. Liu, S. Zhang, L. Li, and X. Chen*, Metalens for generating a customized vectorial focal curve, Nano Letters 21, 2081 (2021).
2. X. Zang, F. Dong, F. Yue, C. Zhang, L. Xu, Z. Song, M. Chen, P.-Y. Chen, G. S. Buller, Y. Zhu, S. Zhuang, W. Chu, S. Zhang, X. Chen*, Polarization encoded colour image embedded in a dielectric metasurface, Advanced Materials 30, 1707499 (2018). 
3. F. Yue, C. Zhang, X. Zang, D. Wen, B.D. Gerardot, S. Zhang, and X. Chen*, High-resolution grayscale image hidden in a laser beam, Light: Science & Applications 7, 17129 (2018).
4. F. Yue, D. Wen, C. Zhang, B.D. Gerardot, W. Wang, S. Zhang, X. Chen*, Multichannel polarization-controllable superpositions of orbital angular momentum states, Advanced Materials 29, 1603838 (2017).
5. D. Wen, F. Yue, G. Li, G. Zheng, K. Chan, S. Chen, M. Chen, K. F. Li, P. W. H. Wong, K. W. Cheah, E. Y. B. Pun, S. Zhang, and X. Chen*, Helicity multiplexed broadband metasurface holograms, Nature Communications 6, 8241 (2015).
6. L. Huang, X. Chen, H. Muhlenbernd, H. Zhang, S. Chen, B. Bai, Q. Tan, G. Jin, K. W. Cheah, C. W. Qiu, J. Li, T. Zentgraf and S. Zhang, Three-dimensional optical holography using a plasmonic metasurface, Nature Communication 4, 2808 (2013).
7. L. Huang, X. Che, B. Bai, Q. Tan, G. Jin, T. Zentgraf and S. Zhang, Helicity dependent directional surface plasmon polariton excitation using a metasurface with interfacial phase discontinuity, Light: Science & Applications 2, e70 (2013).
8. X. Chen, L. Huang, H. Muhlenbernd, G. X. Li, B. Bai, Q. Tan, G. Jin, C. W. Qiu, S. Zhang, and T. Zentgraf, Dual-polarity plasmonic metalens for visible light, Nature Communications 3, 1198 (2012).
9. L. Huang, X. Chen, H. Muhlenbernd, G. Li , B. Bai , Q. Tan , G. Jin , T. Zentgraf , and S. Zhang, Dispersionless phase discontinuities for controlling light propagation, Nano Letters 12, 5750 (2012).
10. X. Chen, Y. Luo, J. Zhang, K. Jiang, J. B. Pendry and S. Zhang, Macroscopic invisibility cloaking of visible light, Nature Communications 2, 176 (2011).