Orad Reshef | Nanophotonics, metamaterials and nonlinear optics

Dr. Orad Reshef is working in nanophotonics, metamaterials and nonlinear optics. After completing a bachelor’s degree with First Class Honours in Physics at McGill University in his hometown of Montreal, he joined Prof. Eric Mazur at Harvard University to pursue his doctoral studies. There, he worked on photonic titanium dioxide, integrated zero-index metamaterials, and their applications in nonlinear optics. Currently, Orad is working as a research associate under Robert Boyd in the CERC group at the University of Ottawa, and is the co-founder of Brilliant Nanophotonics Inc. He is interested in scalable integrated photonic devices, and on engineering interactions and responses that are not typically found in nature by structuring materials on the nanoscale. His Erdős number is 4.

Beside his research focus, Orad is passionate about science outreach: he is the co-chair of the Photonics Online Meetup (POM), the world’s first entirely free online optics conference, and was the co-host of a science podcast called Yet Another Science Show. He also enjoys music, playing the keys and singing on Late for Dinner’s 2009 release, the Amber album. His favorite food is probably poutine.

Contact

Orad Reshef, PhD
✉
☏ +1 (613) 562-5800 Ext. 7138
Advanced Research Complex 454
25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5

Education

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2016 PhD (Applied Physics)
Dissertation: Integrated metamaterials and nanophotonics in CMOS-compatible materials
Advisor: Eric Mazur
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2012 SM (Applied Physics)
McGill University, Montreal, QC, 2009 BSc (Honours Physics)

Awards

OSA Ambassador (2021)
Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017 – 2019)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017 – Declined)
Harvard Quantum Optics Fellowship (2015)
NSERC Postgraduate Doctoral Scholarship (2012 – 2015)
Fonds de recherche du Quebec — Nature et technologies (FQRNT) Doctoral Research Scholarship (2012 — Declined)
FQRNT Masters Research Scholarship (2010 – 2012)
NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (2009)

Research Highlights

“An optic to replace space and its application towards ultra-thin imaging systems” and “Ultra-high-Q resonances in plasmonic metasurfaces” are both published in Nature Communications.
“Nonlinear optical effects in epsilon-near-zero media” is published in Nature Reviews Materials.
“Direct observation of phase-free propagation in a silicon waveguide” is featured on the cover of ACS Photonics. It becomes the journal’s most downloaded paper of the month, making headlines around the internet. (more)
“Extracting loss from asymmetric resonances in micro-ring resonators” is selected as the “Paper of the Week” in the Journal of Optics (May 22 — 29, 2017). (more)
“Nonlinear phase-matching in 2D integrated zero-index metamaterials” is awarded NKT Photonics’ Best Student Paper Award — MRS Optical Metamaterials, Boston, MA (2015). (more)
“On-chip zero-index metamaterials” is featured on the cover of Nature Photonics, and gets picked up by over 30 news organizations. (more)

Other