After finishing his bachelor’s studies in Russia, Dr. Mikhail Belkin received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 2004. From 2004 to 2008, he worked in Federico Capasso’s group in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, first as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a research associate. He joined the University of Texas at Austin as a member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the fall of 2008.
Dr. Belkin’s research interests include mid-infrared and THz photonics, optoelectronics, and nonlinear optics. Recent and ongoing projects include the development and application of compact room-temperature mid-infrared and terahertz quantum cascade laser sources, investigation of exotic linear and nonlinear optical effects in metamaterials and low-dimensional structures, integrated mid-infrared photonics systems, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELS), and sub-wavelength resolution vibrational spectroscopy. In 2014, together with Andrea Alu, he built a ‘non-linear mirror’ that could enable the building of very small optical devices, including laser sources. Currently, Prof. Mikhail Belkin is leading a group at Walter Schottky Institute at the Technical University of Munich. Their main research is focused on developing novel electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Dr. Belkin has co-authored over 200 journal and conference papers and has no fewer than five patents. He is a Fellow of the OSA and a Senior Member of IEEE. Most distinguished awards include Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, National Science Foundation CAREER Award., the DARPA Young Faculty Award, the AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award, and the Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program Award for Young Investigators from the state of Texas.
Photo source: The University of Texas at Austin