Dr. Ricky Renjie Li @UIUC

Hi! My Name is Ricky Renjie Li, I have a PhD in Computer and Information Engineering

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Lab (HMNTL),
located at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), IL, USA

I received my PhD from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Email: renjie2@illinois.edu

Career Status

Currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), advised by Prof. L. Goddard.
Main research interest: AI for Photonics/Materials Autonomous Discovery, Self-driving Labs, Deep Learning, LLMs, Nanophotonics,
Semiconductor Materials, Nanofabrication.
I obtained my PhD degree in Computer and Information Engineering from CUHK in June 2024, advised by Prof. Zhaoyu Zhang.

Education

Ph.D. Computer and Information Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), advised by Prof. Zhaoyu Zhang,
and co-mentored by Prof. Feng Yin and Prof. Yin Zhang, 2020.08-2024.06
Research assistant at Mechanical Engineering department, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) , mentored by Prof. Artur Davoyan, 2017.09-2020.03
B.S. Mechanical Engineering (Robotics track), University of California, Los Angeles , 2013.09-2017.05

Work Experiences

Walt Disney Company, Ride & Show Engineering, Orlando, Florida, USA, R&D engineering intern, 2018.06-2018.12
Taiyuan Heavy Industry Group, Wind Turbine Department, Shanxi, China, Simulation & Modelling Intern, 2017.06-09
Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), UCLA, Research Intern, supervised by Prof. Christopher Lynch, 2017.09-2019.02

Research

My research interests include:

AI for Photonics and Materials Autonomous Discovery
Deep learning and LLMs
Self-driving labs
Photonic Neuromorphic Computing
Semiconductor Materials and Fabrication

Full list of publications on Google Scholar.

Selected Publications

[1] Photonics for Neuromorphic Computing: Fundamentals, Devices, and Opportunities
Renjie Li, Yuanhao Gong, Hai Huang, Yuze Zhou, Sixuan Mao, Zhijian Wei, and Zhaoyu Zhang, Advanced Materials, 2024, 2312825. (JOURNAL, IF: 30)
[Link] [Code]

[1] Deep reinforcement learning empowers automated inverse design and optimization of photonic crystals for nanoscale laser cavities
Renjie Li, Ceyao Zhang, Wentao Xie, …, Zihan Chen, Feng Yin and Zhang, Zhaoyu. Nanophotonics, vol. 12, no. 2, 2023, pp. 319-334. (JOURNAL, IF: 8.4)
[Link] [Code]

[2] Smart and Rapid Design of Nanophotonic Structures by an Adaptive and Regularized Deep Neural Network.
Renjie Li, Xiaozhe Gu, Yuanwen Shen, Ke Li, Zhen Li, and Zhaoyu Zhang. Nanomaterials 12, no.8 (2022): 1372. (JOURNAL, IF: 4.4)
[Link] [Code]

[3] Filling the simulation-to-reality gap: high-degree-of-freedom AI-optimized photonic crystal nanobeam resonators with fabrication tolerance
Qi Xin#, Renjie Li#, David Wei, Zhaoyu Zhang. Optics Letters 2024, 49(15), 4401-4404; (JOURNAL, IF: 3.1)
[Link] [Code]

[3] POViT: Vision Transformer for Multi-Objective Design and Characterization of Photonic Crystal Nanocavities
Xinyu Chen#, Renjie Li#, Yueyao Yu, …,Wenye Li, Zhaoyu Zhang, and Yin Zhang. Nanomaterials 2022, 12(24), 4401; (JOURNAL, IF: 4.4)
[Link] [Code]

[4] Deep learning-based modeling of photonic crystal nanocavities
Renjie Li, Xiaozhe Gu, Ke Li, Yaoran Huang, Zhen Li, and Zhaoyu Zhang. Optical Materials Express 11, no.7 (2021): 2122-2133. (JOURNAL, IF: 3.0)
[Link] [Code]

[5] All van der Waals integrated nanophotonics with bulk transition metal dichalcogenides
Ling, Haonan, Renjie Li, and Artur R. Davoyan. ACS Photonics 8, No.3 (2021): 721-730. (JOURNAL, IF: 7.1)
[Link] [Code]

[6] Inverse Design of Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting Lasers is a Sequence Modeling Problem
Ceyao Zhang#, Renjie Li#, Cheng Zhang, Feng Yin, Zhaoyu Zhang, the 38th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, February 2024 (AAAI 24) (Conference)
[Link] [Code]

[7] Predicting the Q factor and modal volume of photonic crystal nanocavities via deep learning
Renjie Li, Xiaozhe Gu, Ke Li, Zhen Li, and Zhaoyu Zhang. In Nanophotonics and Micro/Nano Optics VII, vol. 11903, pp. 13-24. SPIE Photonics Asia, 2021. (CONFERENCE)
[Link] [Code]

[8] From English to PCSEL: LLM helps design and optimize photonic crystal surface emitting lasers
Renjie Li, Ceyao Zhang, Sixuan Mao, Hai Huang, Xiyuan Zhou, Feng Yin, Sergios Theodoridis, Zhaoyu Zhang,
the 39th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2025) (Under Review)
[Link] [Code]

[9] Optimization Strategies for CNN-Based Modeling of Photonic Crystal Nanocavities
Zihan Chen#, Renjie Li#, and Zhaoyu Zhang. Optics Letters, (Under Review)
[Link] [Code]

Patents

1. Zhaoyu Zhang; Wenye Li; Renjie Li; Yueyao Yu; Method for Encoding Photonic Crystals Using Self-Attention-Based Transformer Deep Neural Networks,
China Patent 2022115464376, formally granted, March 24, 2023.
2. Renjie Li; Zhaoyu Zhang; Method for Inverse Design and Optimization of Optical Resonator Cavities Based on Reinforcement Learning,
China Patent 2022103349663, formally granted, November 11, 2022.
3. Renjie Li; Ceyao Zhang; Feng Yin; Zhaoyu Zhang; Meta Reinforcement Learning-based Optimization Methods for Topological Insulator Lasers,
China Patent 2024103706320, formally granted, May 11, 2024

Awards

1st Place in Doctoral Research Conference organized by SSE, CUHK (in 2023).
Oral presentation at the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Dao Yuan Forum organized by SRIBD, CUHK, SZ in 2022 and 2024.
Poster presentations at The 2024 38th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, in Vancouver, Canada.
Outstanding PhD Candidate Scholarship awarded from 2022-23 by SRIBD, CUHK.
Graduate Student Research Assistantship awarded from 2018-2020 by UCLA.
Teaching Assistantship courses: MAT 1001 Calculus 1, MAT 1002 Calculus 2,PHY 3002 Electrodynamics,
PHY 3007 college general physics,PHY 1010 Thermodynamics,ERG 2082 semiconductor laboratory,
ERG 4901 digital circuitry, EIE 3080 computer architecture and microprocessors etc.