Xiaohang Li has been awarded the SPIE D.J. Lovell Scholarship, the largest and most prestigious scholarship given by this society for optics and photonics professionals. Mr. Li is a Ph.D. student in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Li’s research focuses on growing high-quality InAlGaN compound semiconductor material for high-performance ultraviolet optoelectronic devices such as laser diodes, light-emitting diodes, and detectors. These devices are fundamental for next-generation optical storage, water purification techniques, and bioagent detection. He grows materials by using an Aixtron Epilab Metal-organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) system, a state-of-the-art system that can grow materials at an ultrahigh temperature of up to 1,300 degrees celsius while obtaining a uniform temperature profile.

Mr. Li works in the Advanced Material and Device Group and is advised by Russell D. Dupuis, who is the Steve W. Chaddick Endowed Chair in Electro-Optics and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. Before coming to Tech, Mr. Li received the bachelor’s degree in Applied Physics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the M.S.E.E. degree from Lehigh University.

SPIE serves more than 235,000 constituents from approximately 155 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals, and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional networking, and patent precedent. In 2013, SPIE awarded $351,000 in scholarships to 139 outstanding individuals, based on their potential contribution to optics and photonics, or a related discipline.