Tianyue Li <br/>

Tianyue Li

Tobey Leonard
Research fellow@HKUST

About me

Hi! I am currently a Research Fellow with the Department of Physics at the Jockey Club Institute of Advanced Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), working in the group of Prof. Che Ting Chan. I earned my Ph.D. in Optical Physics from Nanjing University, China.

My research centers on Nanophotonics, focusing on the physical mechanisms and optical singularities in light-matter interactions. I aim to advance this field by exploring new frontiers in light-field manipulation, topological photonics, and optomechanics. I am also actively developing versatile nano-devices for on-chip and fiber-based platforms, with applications in optical tweezers, optical communication, photonic waveguiding circuits, and imaging.

Call for Papers & Conference Participation

Special Issue: We are co-hosting a Special Issue titled "Metasurfaces and Meta-Devices: From Fundamentals to Applications" in the journal Photonics. The submission deadline is April 30, 2026. Original research and review articles relevant to the theme are welcome.

Conference Session: I am co-chairing the session "Multifunctional Metasurfaces: Fundamentals and Applications" at the Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS 2026, Suzhou, China). We invite abstract submissions for oral presentations. A limited number of invited talk slots are available; interested speakers are welcome to contact me for further information.

Fundamental Research

Singularities of Eigenstates

Photonic band is a typical eigenvalue in optical system. Singularity occurs at the degenerate points of more than two energy bands, also known as Dirac point. The eigenvalues around Dirac points enriches physical connotations, such as the accompanying quantum spin Hall effect and quantum valley Hall effect with topological properties. Meanwhile, the photonic structures existing in open or gain-loss systems will split in the complex plane, and its non-Hermitian Hamiltonian has also aroused our interest, aiming to find the connections between these eigenvalues.


Singularities of Light Fields

The light field is comprised of various physical properties, including wavelength, polarization, and phase. These parameters are subject to discontinuity, resulting in a cutoff point known as an optical singularity. Our research interests lie in two specific forms of optical singularities: the phase singularity carried by vortex fields and the polarization singularity arising from the momentum space. We aim to gain a deeper understanding of the physical mechanisms associated with these singularities within the light field.


Derivative Applications

Versatile Nano-optomechanics for Meta-manipulation

Optical forces can be generated along with the light-matter interaction. Thanks to the overlap between the microstructure science and optical micromanipulation, the planar optical tweezers we developed based on plasmonic devices and metasurfaces enable to confine light into diffraction-limit level, so as to control Rayleigh particles with the ultracompact size; On the other hand, with the development of micro-nano manufacturing, we show the micro-structural materials based on photon-momentum transfer, named metavehicles. Our further research concentrates on the development of integrated on-chip optical tweezers and the mechanism of microstructural resonance.


Advanced Optical communication and endoscopy

Optical communication plays an important role in communication and imaging. Although optical fiber possess the abilities of lossless and low cost, it is difficult to operate separately because of its small size and limited mode utilization. We have jointly developed some devices based on cross section of the end of fiber, which can adjust and control the fiber mode, further simplifying the size of devices after mode separation, and saving space costs for increasing communication channels and ultracompact imaging devices.



Publications

Contact

E-mail: lity@ust.hk