Recently, the 2022 Frontiers in Optics conference was held in Rochester, USA. The winners of the Optica Foundation 20th Anniversary Challenge were announced at the conference. Ten young researchers from all over the world were selected as winners. Dr. Xingchen Ji, tenure-track associate professor, John Hopecroft Center for Computer Science, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, won the award. The Optica Foundation provided $100,000 in research funding to support each of the winner.

Dr. Xingchen Ji is the only award-winning research scholar in the Chinese mainland. His proposal is entitled "Developing Low-Cost, Portable, Integrated OCT Systems Using Low-Loss Silicon Nitride Platform".

About the Proposal:

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging modality that provides depth-resolved, high-resolution images of tissue microstructures. Every year, more than 30 million OCT scans are performed all over the world. It has become the de facto diagnostic and monitoring tool for ophthalmic diseases, and an emerging imaging technology in other areas such as dermatology, gastroenterology and breast cancer imaging. Each generation of OCT machines is more sophisticated and feature-rich than the last, and system prices have continued to rise. Today, an OCT machine can easily exceed $100,000. In addition, the size of an OCT system could be on the order of cubic meters, the parts in the OCT system are separated and need to be actively aligned. If a machine needs service or becomes misaligned (a common occurrence), a dedicated equipment technician is needed for repairing and the patients have to be rescheduled for OCT scans. The cost, the size and the misalignment of the parts are prohibitive these powerful imaging systems to all but the busiest and most sophisticated practices.

Dr. Ji and his team plan to develop a prototype for a low-cost, portable, integrated OCT system based on silicon photonics, more specifically low loss Si3N4. The system they envision, in final form, will be two orders of magnitude reduction in price and several orders of magnitude reduction in size and weight. It will have the size and weight less than a typical mobile phone, and will have the capability of providing retinal scans at a resolution of less than 10 μm. This system could be further adapted for imaging and diagnosis of diseases in other specialties using different wavelengths as well, especially in dermatology, dentistry and oncology. Their results will help to reduce costs of the health system while increasing accessibility and compliance for better disease management.

About the Award:

Founded in 2002, the Optica Foundation is an affiliated foundation of Optica (formerly OSA), which is the leading society advancing optics and photonics worldwide. The foundation carries out charitable activities in support of the society's student and early career communities. The Optica Foundation 20th Anniversary Challenge Award seeks to support early-career members with the opportunity to leverage optics and photonics in driving new scientific discoveries and breakthroughs to transform our world.

About the Winner:

Dr. Xingchen Ji, tenure-track associate professor, John Hopecroft Center for Computer Science, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Dr. Ji received National Excellent Young Scientists Fund of China (Overseas) and Shanghai Leading Talent (Overseas Youth). He received Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University in 2018. He then worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University in the City of New York until December 2021 before joining Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a faculty member. His research interests include integrated photonics, nanofabrication, nonlinear optics, and chip-based source for imaging. He has authored and coauthored over 100 international journals and conferences including Nature, Science Advances, Laser & Photonics Reviews, Optica. His works have been widely cited > 3440 times with a single paper citation > 500 times, 4 ESI highly cited papers, and an h-index of 28. He also applied for 8 US and international patents. He has given invited talks at prestigious international conferences such as CLEO, OFC, POEM and invited as a reviewer for high-impact international journals such as Nature Photonics, Nature Communications, Laser & Photonics Reviews, Photonics Research etc.