Dr Chong Li
- Lecturer (Electronic and Nanoscale Engineering)
telephone: +44 141 330 4626
email: Chong.Li@glasgow.ac.uk
Research interests
Biography
Dr. Chong Li received a BEng degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Donghua University (Shanghai, China) in 2002, an MSc degree (Distinction) in Communications Engineering from the University of Manchester in 2007, and a PhD degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from the University of Glasgow in 2011. His PhD involved developing monolithic millimetre-wave signal sources and integrated circuits. He subsequently became a Postdoctoral Research Assistant and later a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Glasgow, working on development of terahertz imaging systems. Dr. Li joined National Physical Laboratory in January 2014 as a Higher Research Scientist. Since then he had contributed to and led several commercial projects and UK national and European research projects. He was the measurement service provider (MSP) for Ultrafast Waveform Metrology service at NPL. He also led work on microwave and millimetre-wave on-wafer measurements. He holds a visiting position at the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), University of Surrey since January 2017. Dr. Li is an Associate Editor for Royal Society Open Science and a senior member of IEEE. He has served as a member of TPC for several conferences. Dr Li won the best paper at the LAPC 2015.
Research Interests
I am leading the Microwave and THz Electronics (MaTE) Group and interested in developing novel microwave, mmWave and THz components, devices and circuits; integrated nano-vacuum electronics; emerging materials and technologies for wireless sensing, imaging, power transfer and communications; metrology for antennas and propagation; metrology for on-wafer measurements.
Summer students, final year/MSc project students, self-funded/government-funded PhD students are welcome to my group! Please contact me if you have any brilliant ideas about any of the above listed topic (s) or something else!
Equipment and Facilities
We have the state-of-art equipment and facilities for fabircation and characterisation of RF, microwave, mmWave and THz devices and systems. Information about micro-/nano-fabrication can be found on the JWNC website. Here below list some of the equipment for measurements from RF to THz:
1 GHz-16 GHz anechoic chamber for near-field antenna characteriations
10 MHz-110 GHz semi-automated on-wafer VNA system
140 GHz-220 GHz and 220 GHz-325 GHz on-wafer and waveguide VNA systems
750 GHz-1.1 THz VNA system with Swissto12's material characterisation kit (MCK)
Semiconductor device analyser for DC & Pulsed IV/CV measurement
Sprectrum analyer and power meter for up to 325 GHz
Research Topics (PhD projects)
Compact monolithic millimetre-wave and terahertz integrated circuits （ funded）
Millimetre-wave and terahertz (MWT) technology has achieved significant progress in many areas including communications, radars, imaging, microscopy and so on in the past decade. From electronics point of view, the advancement of nanofabrication technology has enabled MWT integrated circuits to operate at their limits, especially for transistors. It is well-known that the higher the frequency that the components operate at, the smaller the size they become. However, no matter how high frequency even at THz, passive components e.g. switches, filters, antennas and matching circuits etc. still take up majority space on the chip. This is because most of them are realised using distributed elements i.e. transmission lines which leads to higher cost. In addition, the distributed elements tend to cause higher loss at higher frequencies. In this project, we aim to develop highly compact and efficient 3D monolithic integrated MWT circuits operating at 300 GHz and above. By exploring both novel design methodologies for passive components and active devices and advanced fabrication processes, miniaturised 3D MMT ICs based on GaAs will be developed using the world leading facilities of the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre (http://www.jwnc.gla.ac.uk/) and tested with the-state-of-the-art instruments of the Microwave Laboratories at the University of Glasgow. The candidate student will be able to develop cutting edge skills including micro/nano fabrication, numerical electromagnetic simulation, advanced circuit design and precise measurement throughout the project.
The successful candidate will have a MSc, 1st class or 2:1 (or equivalent) in Electronic Engineering or similar degree. The candidate will have the ability to work under minimal supervision, but also as part of a team.
It would be advantageous to have experience of numerical simulation, microwave circuit design, micro/nano-fabrication, antenna design and test. A knowledge of semiconductor device physics, microwave engineering, and test equipment would be desirable
Funding Notes
The Scholarship includes a three year stipend at a standard rate (currently £14,553 per annum) and, in addition, fees at the UK/EU rate. Since the scholarship only covers fees at the UK/EU rate any overseas applicants are kindly requested to state in their application how they propose to cover the difference between UK/EU and overseas fees (for more details visit: View Website)
Nano-vaccum electronics for mmWave and THz applications
(pleae contact me for further information)
Graphene-based tunable electronic and optical devices
(pleae contact me for further information)
Development of mm-wave imaging systems
(pleae contact me for further information)
Development of wireless charging technology for in-body medical and diagnostic devices
The clinical usage of active implantable medical devices (AIMDs) such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neuro stimulators, glucose monitors and so on has risen sharply over the past decades. On one side patients benefit of improving their quality of life or even extending their lives; however on the other side they are suffering from surgical replacement of those devices when the built-in batteries run out. Many companies have been trying to improve this by minimising power consumption or increasing battery capacity however the effect of these approaches is very limited. More recently, pill-like diagnostic medical devices have attracted extensive attention in research and practical applications. It is expected that this type of devices would replace the conventional endoscopy. However the implementation of such devices could be also limited by their sizes due to the size of battery. One solution for both cases is to implement wireless charging technology to charge batteries of AIMDs and diagnostic medical devices.
In this project, the successful candidate will be expected to develop innovative low-cost and power-efficient wireless charging technology for charging AIMDs and in-body diagnostic devices. The student will need to explore both ultrasound and electromagnetic means to achieve this. This challenging project will require student to carry out research into from component design to system integration. Prior experience in circuit design, RF and microwave engineering and ultrasound is highly desirable. This is an interdisciplinary project which will provide the student opportunity to work with clinical doctors and industrial engineers.
Metrology for on-wafer S-parameter measurements
On-wafer measurements at microwave and millimetre-wave frequencies are challenging due to various reasons such as generation of higher-order modes when probes contacting measurement pads, crosstalks or signal leakages between probes and neighbouring circuits, and change of testing environments and so on. We are interested in developing new calibration algorithms and designing calibration standards to improve the accuracy of system calibrations and device measurements.
Collaborators: NPL and HSRI
Funding opportunities
Glasgow University provides a wide range of funding opportunities for PhD studies. Here below list some funding opportunities. For general information, please go to http://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/
Carnegie Caledonian PhD Scholarship
http://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/carnegiecaledonianphdscholarship/
Nominations are sought from prospective PhD supervisors only for the Carnegie/Caledonian PhD Scholarships 2017-18. The Carnegie Trust is funding 15 PhD scholarships across all universities within Scotland. The University of Glasgow has been allocated 7 nominations (out of 60 allowed in total across all Scottish HEIs).
http://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/clarkmileendbursaryfund/
The Clark (Mile-End) Bursary Fund is a charitable endowment which was established in 1868 by a Victorian philanthropist by the name of John Clark. He was a thread manufacturer and prominent citizen from Paisley. The fund is now governed by Rules laid down in a 1974 Scheme (as varied with the consent of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in 2013).
http://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/grahamtrustbursaryscheme/
The Graham Trust was established by Charter from the City of Glasgow in 1759 with the original aim of “….distribution to persons of the name of Graham or descendants of persons of that name such sums as they shall just requisite and to put poor boys of the name or descendants of such persons of the name, to schools and trades, in order to enable them to gain a livelihood and to be useful members of society.” The Trust is administered by Foundation Scotland.
http://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/lordkelvinphdscholarships/
The Lord Kelvin Adam Smith (LKAS) PhD Scholarships are the University of Glasgow’s flagship interdisciplinary scholarships. To date 100 fully funded interdisciplinary PhD projects have been created.
The LKAS PhD Scholarships offer the opportunity for outstanding research students to participate in some of the most exciting areas of interdisciplinary research carried out at the University. During October each year researchers from across the University submit project proposals, from which 6 from each of the 4 Colleges (24 in total) are selected to be advertised to potential doctoral students. Of these, 10 scholarships are generally awarded, based on the excellence of both the project and the selected candidate
Scotland's Saltire Scholarships
http://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/scotlandssaltirescholarships/
Gain an internationally recognised qualification and take your career to new heights. This exciting scholarship opportunity is open to Canadian, Chinese, Indian and US nationals and is aimed at encouraging bright, talented and hardworking individuals to live, work and study in Scotland.
The China Scholarship Council
http://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/thechinascholarshipcouncil/
This scheme provides academically excellent Chinese students with the opportunity to study for a PhD at the University of Glasgow. The scholarships are supported jointly by the China Scholarship Council and the University of Glasgow
For successful applicants, the applicable College/School will provide scholarships to cover tuition fees, and the CSC will consider their application for a living allowance as prescribed from time to time by the Chinese Government (which includes Student Health cover), a return airfare from China to the UK by the most economical route, and visa application fees.
The scholarships will be awarded to citizens and permanent residents of the People's Republic of China at the time of application that are accepted for admission on a full-time basis for a postgraduate PhD degree programme at the University of Glasgow.
Candidates should not be currently working outside China at the time of application, and successful candidates must agree to return to China upon completion of their research degree at the University of Glasgow. Candidates currently studying outside China are eligible to apply if they are completing a masters course or are currently on the first year of their PhD programme (only some Colleges/Schools accept current PhD students for these scholarships so please check with the relevant graduate office)
Supervision
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Current PhD students:
Michael Farage (PhD)
Haris Votsi (PhD)
Current MEng/MSc Sudents:
Muhammad Taha Ansari
Anjeeshnu Das，Xiaoyi Guo，Yuyang Wang，Yi Yi，Zhenpei Zhou
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Former visiting scholars:
Aihua Wu, HSRI (NPL)， Chen Liu, HSRI (NPL)
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Former MEng/MSc Sudents
Abu Inayat ，Asfand Tanwear，Kaivan Karami，Naeem Mannan，Zhivomir Arnaudov，Mohamed El Mustafa Ismail Omer
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Former undergraduate Students
Kwing Choy (Y4)
Yufei Zhang (Y3)， Lin Zhou (Y3)，Wenjie Zhang (Y3)，James Lee (Y3)，Owen Fitzpatrick (Y3)
Teaching
Real-time Computer Systems (Y3)
Microwave and millimeterwave circuit design (Y5, MSc, MEng)
Design Special Project Y5: A standalone renewable energy power plant for uninterrupted electricity supply
Final Year Project Y4: RFID for tracking personal belonings
Year 3 Project
Additional information
Projects
EMPIR PlanarCal (WP leader) 2015-2018 (NPL)
EMPIR MET5G 2015-2018 (NPL)
EMRP MORSE 2013-2016 (NPL)
DECC DGO2 2014 (NPL)
