Research Matrix

Bridging nanoscale design, optical photonics, and biological principles. Below is an overview of my core competencies, recent breakthroughs, and significant funding milestones.

Additive Fabrication

3D Nano/Micro Printing of Architected Functional Materials

Developing on-demand 3D nanoprinting solutions to sculpt functional materials. Utilizing coupled fields and next-generation lithography paradigms to establish new boundaries in spatial resolution.

  • Highlights: First-ever 3D printing of plasmonic architectures with precisely arranged nano-gaps.
  • Fabrication: First 3D printing of multi-metallic nanoarchitectures achieving sub-100 nm resolution.
  • Impact Feature: 'Metal 3D nanoprinting with coupled fields' highlighted in Nature Communications and Nature Electronics.
Sensing & Diagnostics

Bio-Inspired Intelligent Sensors

Synthesizing brain-inspired and bio-mimetic designs for critical detection systems via programmable biological mediators (e.g., M13 Bacteriophage, peptides).

  • Healthcare: Highly selective, neural-mechanism mimetic electronic arrays for volatile organic compound detection (Lung Cancer).
  • Environment: K9-inspired smart biosensors monitoring indoor air pollutants and toxins.
  • Agri-Food: Optimization and selective surface engineering for agricultural vitality, including development of smart biosensors to analyze freshness condition of Peach fruit.
Nanophotonics

Wafer Scalable Plasmonic Architectures

Engineering advanced plasmonic frameworks through dewetting processes, ensuring wafer-scale uniformity and robust enhancement for quantum emitters.

  • Cavity Architecture: Fabrication of robust Nanoparticle-on-Mirror (NPOM) systems utilizing true single-bottom faceted structures.
  • Film Superiority: Developing ultrathin, ultrasmooth (5–30 nm) metallic films without co-deposition wetting layers.
  • Design Efficiency: Integrated modeling and simulation co-optimization for specialized SERS and plasmonic enhancement fields.
Advanced Materials

Biomaterials & Self-Assembly

Designing and orchestrating self-assembling nano-systems driven by engineered biological mediators to create functional and responsive surfaces.

  • Self-Assembly: Development of programmable self-assembly techniques for macroscopic application.
  • Peptide Engineering: Tailoring peptides for selective binding and engineered responses.
  • Bio-Engineered Nanostructures: Integration of advanced biological components into functional nanodevices.

Major Grants & Project History

Secured funding in highly competitive (non-foreigner) categories across South Korea. Completed 0 major institutional projects (1 as PI, 7 as Co-PI), managing approximately 0 Billion KRW (~$8.5M USD) from 2016-2023.

Principal Investigator

Plasmonic Biosensors

NRF-2021R1I1A1A01050424 | 06/2021 - 11/2023

Budget: 210 Million KRW

Co-Principal Investigator

Dynamic Bio-Metamaterial

NRF-2017M3D1A1039287 | 03/2017 - 02/2023

Budget: 6.6 Billion KRW

Co-Principal Investigator

Hybrid Functional Materials

NRF-2013M3A6B107886335 | 03/2022 - 08/2022

Budget: 3.3 Billion KRW

Co-Principal Investigator

Biosensor - Respiratory Gas Analysis

NRF-2018R1A2B2006667 | 03/2018 - 02/2020

Budget: 500 Million KRW

Co-Principal Investigator

Biosensor - Cardiovascular Disease

NRF-2020R1A2C2011090 | 03/2020 - 02/2022

Budget: 300 Million KRW

Co-Principal Investigator

Retinal Disease Prediction

NRF-2021R1I1A3A04035369 | 06/2021 - 12/2023

Budget: 150 Million KRW

*New proposals and consortiums are currently under preparation at Paderborn University.