Zan Nie is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His research mainly focuses on laser plasma physics and air lasing, and has achieved many outstanding achievements. Main achievements include:
(1) Proposing and experimentally verifying a new scheme for generating single-cycle mid-infrared pulses with relativistic intensity and tunable wavelength based on the "photon deceleration" mechanism in plasma, filling the gap for ultra-intense single-cycle mid-infrared light sources in the 3-20 um wavelength range;
(2) Discovering a new mechanism for generating bidirectional dual-color cascade air lasing, utilizing the photon exchange process between argon and nitrogen in atmospheric air, which can effectively enhance the energy of the backward air lasing, opening up new possibilities for the application of air lasing in remote sensing.
He has published more than 30 papers in SCI journals, including as the first/corresponding author in well-known journals such as Nature Photonics (cover), Nature Communications, and Physical Review Letters. His research achievements were selected as one of the top ten advances in Chinese optics in 2018 (fundamental research category), and he received the Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Award from Tsinghua University in 2019 and the Cai Shidong Plasma Physics Award in 2020.
Education/Work Experience
2023.03 — present Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Professor
2019.02 — 2022.12 University of California, Los Angeles, USA Postdoc
2012.09 — 2018.10 Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University PhD
2008.09 — 2012.07 Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University Bachelor
Research Interests
Laser plasma physics
Air lasing
Ultra-intense ultrafast optics
Laser plasma wakefield acceleration
Honors and Awards
Top ten advances in Chinese optics in 2018 (fundamental research category)
Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Award from Tsinghua University in 2019
Cai Shidong Plasma Physics Award in 2020
International collaborations
University of California Los Angeles, USA
Max-Born Institute, Germany
Selected Publications
1. Z. Nie, C.-H. Pai, J. F. Hua, C. J. Zhang, Y. P. Wu, Y. Wan, F. Li, J. Zhang, Z. Cheng, Q. Q. Su, S. Liu, Y. Ma, X. N. Ning, Y. X. He, W. Lu, H.-H. Chu, J. Wang, W. B. Mori and C. Joshi, “Relativistic single-cycle tunable infrared pulses generated from a tailored plasma density structure.” Nature Photonics 12, 489-494 (2018). (Nature Photonics Cover)
2. Z. Nie, C.-H. Pai, J. F. Hua, C. J. Zhang, Y. P. Wu, Y. Wan, F. Li, J. Zhang, Z. Cheng, Q. Q. Su, S. Liu, Y. Ma, X. N. Ning, Y. X. He, W. Lu, H.-H. Chu, J. Wang, W. B. Mori and C. Joshi, “Photon deceleration in plasma wakes generates single-cycle relativistic tunable infrared pulses.” Nature Communications 11, 2787 (2020).
3. Z. Nie, N. Nambu, K. A. Marsh, D. Matteo, C. K. Patel, C. J. Zhang, Y. P. Wu, S. Carlstroem, F. Morales, S. Patchkovskii, O. Smirnova, M. Ivanov and C. Joshi, “Bidirectional cascaded superfluorescent lasing in air enabled by resonant third harmonic photon exchange from nitrogen to argon.” Physical Review Letters 133, 063201 (2024). (Featured in Physics)
4. Z. Nie, F. Li, F. Morales, S. Patchkovskii, O. Smirnova, W. An, N. Nambu, D. Matteo, K. A. Marsh, F. Tsung, W. B. Mori and C. Joshi, “In Situ Generation of High-Energy Spin-Polarized Electrons in a Beam-Driven Plasma Wakefield Accelerator.” Physical Review Letters 126, 054801 (2021).
5. Z. Nie, F. Li, F. Morales, S. Patchkovskii, O. Smirnova, W. An, C. Zhang, Y. Wu, N. Nambu, D. Matteo, K. A. Marsh, F. Tsung, W. B. Mori, and C. Joshi, "Highly spin-polarized multi-GeV electron beams generated by single-species plasma photocathodes," Physical Review Research 4, 033015 (2022).
6. Z. Nie, N. Nambu, K. A. Marsh, E. Welch, D. Matteo, C. Zhang, Y. Wu, S. Patchkovskii, F. Morales, O. Smirnova, and C. Joshi, "Cross-polarized common-path temporal interferometry for high-sensitivity strong-field ionization measurements," Optics Express 30(14), 25696 (2022).
7. Z. Nie, Y. P. Wu, C. J. Zhang, W. B. Mori, C. Joshi, W. Lu, C.-H. Pai, J. F. Hua and J. Wang, “Ultra-short pulse generation from mid-IR to THz range using plasma wakes and relativistic ionization fronts.” Physics of Plasmas 28, 023106 (2021).
8. Y. P. Wu, J. F. Hua, Z. Zhou, J. Zhang, S. Liu, B. Peng, Y. Fang, X. N. Ning, Z. Nie, F. Li, C. J. Zhang, C.-H. Pai, Y. C. Du, W. Lu, W. B. Mori, and C. Joshi, “High-throughput injection–acceleration of electron bunches from a linear accelerator to a laser wakefield accelerator.” Nature Physics (2021).
9. A. Sampath, X. Davoine, S.Corde, L. Gremillet, M. Gilljohann, M. Sangal, C. H. Keitel, R. Ariniello, J. Cary, H. Ekerfelt, C. Emma, F. Fiuza, H. Fujii, M. Hogan, C. Joshi, A. Knetsch, O. Kononenko, V. Lee, M. Litos, K. Marsh, Z. Nie, B. O’Shea, J. R. Peterson, P. S. M. Claveria, D. Storey, Y. Wu, X. Xu, C. Zhang, and M. Tamburini, “Extremely Dense Gamma-Ray Pulses in Electron Beam-Multifoil Collisions.” Physical Review Letters 126, 064801 (2021).
10. Y. P. Wu, X. L. Xu, C. J. Zhang, Z. Nie, M. Sinclair, A. Farrell, K. A. Marsh, J. F. Hua, W. Lu, W. B. Mori, and C. Joshi, “Efficient generation of tunable magnetic and optical vortices using plasmas.” Physical Review Research 5, L012011 (2023).
11. Y. P. Wu, J. F. Hua, Z. Zhou, J. Zhang, S. Liu, B. Peng, Y. Fang, Z. Nie, X. N. Ning, C.-H. Pai, Y. C. Du, W. Lu, C. J. Zhang, W. B. Mori, and C. Joshi, “Phase Space Dynamics of a Plasma Wakefield Dechirper for Energy Spread Reduction.” Physical Review Letters 122, 204804 (2019).
More websites：
Ultrafast Optics group：http://ufolab.phys.hust.edu.cn/
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zan-Nie-2
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZPr-VlIAAAAJ&hl=en