Dr Ying-Lung Daniel Ho, an Associate Professor in Nanophotonics and Electrical Engineering at Northumbria University, with EPSRC-funded projects advancing nanophotonic devices, next-generation energy storage, and sustainable hydrogen technologies. Leads research in Nanophotonic Engineering, focusing on functional material development, optical characterisation, photo-/electrochemical analysis, and advanced micro-/nanofabrication, enabling applications across healthcare, energy, and quantum nanophotonic technologies.

1. Nanophotonics & Quantum Optics:
   • Single-photons on demand
   • 3D Nanophotonics in artificially structured materials
   • Micro-Nanostructure-Stabilized Liquid-Crystalline Blue-Phase
   • Optical Microcavites and Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics
2. Nano/Micro-Structured Materials for Energy Applications:
   • Solar-thermal absorbers
   • 3D Architectured Hybrid Materials for Electrodes and Catalysts
3. Nano/Micro-Structured Materials for Medical Applications:
   • Multi-Functional Materials for Smart Stents Sensing

Research projects

Active projects

1. Hyperuniform Disordered Metasurfaces For Selective Absorbers – PI: Prof Marian Florescu (University of Southampton); Co-PI: Ying-Lung Daniel Ho, Researcher: Mike Taverne (Northumbria University), Co-PIs: Prof Martin Cryan, Prof. Neil Fox, Dr Jonathan Pugh (University of Bristol), funded by the EPSRC grant no. EP/Y016440/1 & EP/Y016440/2, value (£): 1,384,021.25, 02/09/2024 – 01/09/2027.
2. Additive Micro/Nano-manufacturing of Structured Piezoelectric Active Materials for Intelligent Stent Monitoring – PI: Dr. Ying-Lung Daniel Ho, Researcher: Mike Taverne (Northumbria University); Co-I: Dr. Shuangyi Yan (University of Bristol), funded by the ISPF and the EPSRC grant no. EP/Y003551/1, value (£): 161,161.25, 01/04/2024 – 31/09/2026.

Completed projects

1. 3D Nanophotonics in Artificially Structured Chalcogenide Materials (EPSRC New Investigator Award) - PI: Dr. Ying-Lung Daniel Ho, funded by the EPSRC grant no. EP/V040030/1, value (£): 474,704, 01/09/2021 – 31/08/2024.
2. Additive Nano-Manufacturing of Multi-Functional Materials for Smart Stents Sensing (2022 Academia Sinica Catalyst Award Competition) – PI: Dr. Yu-Sheng Lin (STUST, Taiwan); Co- PIs: Ying-Lung Daniel Ho (Northumbria), Dr. Kevin Huang (Southampton), Dr. Shuangyi Yan (Bristol), and Dr. Chen-Hsun Weng (NCKU, Taiwan), funded by the 2022 Healthy Longevity Grand Challenge Competition Winners, value (US$): 100,000, 01/09/2022 – 31/08/2024.
3. Exploring Topology-optimised Metasurface Architectures for Solar-thermal Absorption (Research Grants 2022 Round 1) – PI: Dr. Ying-Lung Daniel Ho, funded by the Royal Society grant no. RGS\R1\221031, value (£):19,954, 21/03/2022 – 30/06/2023.
4. Structural integrity characterisation of nuclear materials via nano additive manufacturing - PI: Dr. A. Shterenlikht, Co-Is: Ying- Lung Daniel Ho, Prof. M. Mostafavi, and Prof. D. E. J. Armstrong (Oxford), funded by the EPSRC grant no. EP/P034446/1, value (£): 201,747, 20/03/2017 – 19/09/2019.
5. Chalcogenide Photonic Technologies - University of Bristol - PI: Prof. John Rarity, Researcher Co-I: Dr. Ying-Lung Daniel Ho, funded by the EPSRC grant no. EP/M009033/1, value (£): 447,600, 01/05/2015 – 30/04/2018. 

Accepting PhD Students to join the Nanophotonic Engineering Laboratory (NEL)

If you are an exceptional candidate with an interest in the following topics, please contact: [email protected] or [email protected]

• Three-dimensional Nanophotonics in Artificially Structured Materials.
• Artificially Nano-structured Materials for Three-dimensional Electrodes and Catalysts.
• Scalable Two-dimensional Layered Materials for Efficient Quantum Photon Sources.
• Topology-optimised Metasurface Architectures for Solar-Thermal Absorption.
• Additive Micro/Nano-manufacturing of Structured Piezoelectric Active Materials for Intelligent Stent Monitoring.
• Micro-Nanostructure-Stabilized Liquid-Crystalline Blue-Phase.

Latest News

• 02-10-2025 Delighted to announce that our first collaborative paper on nano-mechanical sensing, titled “Two Dimensional-Material-Coated Microcantilevers for Enhanced Mass Sensing and Material Characterization”, has been accepted in Nanoscale. Huge thanks to everyone involved!
• 18-06-2025 Excited to share that our paper “Thermal Shrinkage-Induced Modifications in Photonic Band Gaps of Two-Photon Polymerized Bragg Reflectors” has been accepted in Advanced Photonics Research – grateful to all involved!
• 16-01-2025 Check out our latest publication on “Recent Advances in Surface Functionalized 3D Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting”.
• 25-11-2024 Our project, ‘HyMeta: Hyperuniform Disordered Metasurfaces for Selective Absorbers (EP/Y016440/1),’ has been shortlisted in the Energy and Environment category. NEL is honored to be part of this highly promising project and to collaborate with such an outstanding team.
• 01-10-2024 NEL welcomes its new PhD student: Mr. Owen Bell.
• 11-04-2024 Our EPSRC joint project (EP/Y016440/1) "Hyperuniform Disordered Metasurfaces for Selective Absorbers" has just been granted! A news item is released - Project to boost solar energy capture awarded £1.1 million.
• 12-02-2024 Check out our collaboration with Dr Jonathan Mar from Newcastle University to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, which is now available to the public! X(Twitter), LinkedIn, facebook, Threads, and Instagram.
• 09-01-2024 Our EPSRC networking project (EP/Y003551/1), which has recently been granted, is featured in the Engineer Magazine - Smart Stent to warn of restenosis.
• 18 – 21-09 2023 Nadira will present the paper "3D Pyrolyzed Carbon Modified with g-C3N4@Ni Electrodeposit for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation" at the E-MRS 2023 Fall Meeting in Warsaw, Poland.
• 29-05-2023 Our EPSRC ECR international collaboration grant project "Additive Micro/Nano-manufacturing of Structured Piezoelectric Active Materials for Intelligent Stent Monitoring" has just been granted!
• 26 – 30 June NEL will present the papers at the CLEO®/Europe-EQEC 2023 in Munich, Germany.
• 25-04-2023 Check out our latest publication on “Conformal CVD-grown MoS2 on Three-dimensional Woodpile Photonic Crystals for Photonic Bandgap Engineering”, ACS Applied Optical Materials. 
• 29 May - 02 June 2023 NEL presented the papers at the E-MRS 2023 Spring Meeting in Strasbourg, France.
• 28-09-2022 Our joint research proposal Catalyst Award (Academia Sinica of Taiwan - Healthy Longevity Grand Challenge Competition) with Dr. Yu-Sheng Lin from Southern Taiwan University of Science and technology has just been granted.
• 30-08-2022 NEL presented the paper and poster at the Photon 2022 Conference in Nottingham, UK.
• 21-03-2022 Our Royal Society Research Grant to fund equipment has just been granted, which is for a heated microscope stage to characterise materials properties of solar thermal absorbers.
• 01-03-2022 NEL welcomes its new PhD student: Miss Nadira Hameed.
• 23-02-2022 Check out our latest publication on Strongly Confining Light with Air-Mode Cavities in Inverse Rod-Connected Diamond Photonic Crystals.
• 22-09-2021 NEL has a fully funded PhD position available to study Artificially Nano-structured Materials for Three-dimensional Electrodes and Catalysts.
• 01-09-2021 NEL welcomes its new member: Dr. Mike Taverne.
• 04-06-2021 NEL has a Research Fellow position available in Experimental Nanophotonics.
• 10-03-2021 Our EPSRC New Investigator Award project 3D Nanophotonics in Artificially Structured Chalcogenide Materials has just been granted!
• 02-12-2019 NEL has a fully funded PhD position available to study 3D Nanophotonics in Artificially Structured Chalcogenide Materials