Prof. Xianzhong Chen’s research centres on flat optics, an exciting interdisciplinary field at the intersection of nanoscience, optics, physics, and engineering. Flat optical devices are ultrathin and compact, making them ideal for miniaturisation and integration into next-generation technologies. His group is working to revolutionise imaging, detection, displays, and measurement systems by developing advanced nanophotonic devices such as metalenses, holograms, structured light generators, and 3D polarisation engineering devices. He has published over 110 papers in leading journals including Nature Communications, Science Advances, Nano Letters, Advanced Materials, and Light: Science & Applications. His research has attracted over 12000 citations on Google Scholar. To bridge the gap between research and real-world applications, he collaborates with leading companies such as STMicroelectronics, Renishaw, Holoxica, and SOLNIL. His projects have been supported by the EPSRC, the Royal Society, the Leverhulme Trust, Renishaw, DSTL and the UK-Korea Focal Point Programme.

Xianzhong is a full professor of physics at Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences.  He is committed to education and international collaboration. He serves as the Programme Director for the Joint Education Programme in Computational Physics, a partnership between Heriot-Watt University and Ocean University of China. He also enjoys spending time in a local allotment, where he finds relaxation and inspiration in growing his own vegetables.

He worked at Institute of Optics and Electronics for three years after he obtained his PhD in 2004. He then moved to the UK in 2007 to continue his research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Birmingham, where he worked for six years before joining Heriot-Watt University in 2013 as an Assistant Professor. At Heriot-Watt, he established the Experimental Nanophotonics Group within the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences. 

He grew up and completed his education in China, obtaining his PhD in optics from the Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2004.

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. The on-chip spectrometer was nominated as one of Top 10 Social Influential Events in Optics Sector (Light10) in 2023.

​​​​​1. G. Wang, X. Zang, T. Zhang, Z. Tan, Z. Guo, Y. Zhu, X. Chen, and S. Zhuang, High-capacity directional information processor using all-optical multilayered neural networks, Science Advances 11, eadu0904 (2025).

2. H. Ahmed, B. Qi, and X. Chen, Evolution of dispersion-engineered metasurfaces: Debye relaxation and folded path concept, Light: Science & Applications 14, 223 (2025).

3. H. Ahmed, M. A. Ansari, R. Yan, and X. Chen, Customizing multicolored orbital angular momentum combs, Nano Letters 25, 5366–5374 (2025).

4. H. Ahmed, M. A. Ansari, J. Li, T. Paterson, and X. Chen, Metasurface for engineering superimposed Ince–Gaussian beams, Advanced Materials 36, 2312853 (2024).

5. Y. Li, M. A. Ansari, H. Ahmed, R. Wang, G. Wang, and X. Chen, Longitudinally variable three-dimensional optical polarization structures, Science Advances 9, eadj6675 (2023).

6. H. Ahmed, M. A. Ansari, M. Q. Mehmood, T. Zentgraf, and X. Chen, Dynamic control of hybrid grafted perfect vector vortex beams, Nature Communications 14, 3915 (2023).

7. R. Wang, Y. Intaravanne, S. Liu, S. Zhang, L. Li, and X. Chen, Compact folded metasurface spectrometer, Light: Science & Applications 12, 103 (2023).

8. W. Liu, X. Zang, Y. Wei, J. Song, L. Lezec, and X. Chen, Broadband achromatic metalens with polarization-insensitive focusing, Advanced Materials 35, 2208884 (2023).

9. Y. Intaravanne, M. A. Ansari, H. Ahmed, N. Bileckaja, H. Yin, and X. Chen, Color-selective three-dimensional polarization structure, Light: Science & Applications 11, 302 (2022).

10. H. Ahmed, M. A. Ansari, Y. Li, T. Zentgraf, M. Q. Mehmood, and X. Chen, Multichannel superposition of grafted perfect vortex beams, Advanced Materials 34, 2203044 (2022).

11. Y. Ming, M. A. Ansari, H. Ahmed, G. S. Buller, T. Zentgraf, and X. Chen, Multiple multicolored three-dimensional polarization knots arranged along light propagation, Advanced Materials 34, 2109714 (2022).

12. 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, 2081–2087 (2021).

13. X. Zang, Y. Wei, W. Liu, J. Song, L. Lezec, and X. Chen, Polarization-independent plasmonic metalens for broadband focusing, Advanced Materials 30, 1707499 (2018).

14. F. Yue, D. Wen, C. Zhang, X. Chen, and S. Zhang, Multichannel polarization-controllable superpositions of orbital angular momentum states, Light: Science & Applications 7, 17129 (2018).

15. F. Yue, D. Wen, C. Zhang, X. Chen, and S. Zhang, Structured illumination with plasmonic metasurfaces, Advanced Materials 29, 1603838 (2017).

16. D. Wen, C. Zhang, M. Wang, D. Chen, S. Zhang, and X. Chen, Metasurface-based optical vortex generator with continuously tunable topological charge, Nature Communications 6, 8241 (2015).

17. L. Huang, X. Chen, H. Mühlenbernd, G. X. Li, B. Bai, Q. Tan, G. Jin, T. Zentgraf, and S. Zhang, Dispersionless phase discontinuities for controlling light propagation, Nature Communications 4, 2808 (2013).

18. L. Huang, X. Chen, 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).

19. X. Chen, L. Huang, H. Mühlenbernd, 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).

20. 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).