Prof. Xiaobo Yin Profile

Prof. Xiaobo Yin

Professor at The Univ of Hong Kong

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Proceedings Article | 6 August 2021 Presentation

Increase greenhouse production with spectral-shifting and unidirectional light-extracting photonics

Lihua Shen, Xiaobo Yin

Proceedings Volume 11824, 1182402 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2593235

KEYWORDS: Photosynthesis, Photonics, Yield improvement, Thin films, Photons, Photonic microstructures, Optics manufacturing, Manufacturing, Light sources and illumination, Internal quantum efficiency

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Increasing crop yields is the most sustainable approach toward the escalating food demand. Promoting crop production using genetic and ecological engineering such as reducing photorespirations, and accelerating recovery from photoprotections, is emerging yet debatable for its wide public acceptance. Alternatively, managing light quantity (intensity) and quality (spectrum) provides a promising and secure venue for improving crop yield, but comes with costs. For example, increasingly adopted supplementary electric lighting, consumed nearly 6 TWh of electricity in 2017 in the United States alone. Meanwhile, not every spectral component of sunlight contributes equally to photosynthesis. Recently have spectral-shifting materials been introduced to convert impinging sunlight into an optimized spectrum for photosynthesis. However, a fundamental optics challenge remains unaddressed: the majority of the internally generated photons are trapped inside the material, leading to seemingly encouraging but inconsistent results. Exploiting a photonic microstructure that is simple to manufacture, we demonstrate a spectral-shifting and unidirectional light extracting film that converts the least effective photosynthetic components of sunlight (green light) into the most effective (red) light with an internal quantum efficiency of 90% and a total external quantum efficiency of 43.8%. More importantly, this film breaks the propagation symmetry of light and extracts most of the otherwise trapped light unidirectionally into free space, rendering an easily adaptable greenhouse envelope material. Using leafy green lettuce as model crops, the micro-photonic film allows us to harvest > 20% more aboveground biomass of lettuce both indoor and outdoor. As we demonstrate experimentally, the photonic thin film can serve as greenhouse envelopes to provide more effective photosynthetic light than that of direct sunlight, opening the door for “red-colored” greenhouses and other protected environments with substantially augmented crop yields.

SPIE Journal Paper | 22 June 2021 Open Access

Special Section Guest Editorial: Introducing the Special Series on Radiative Cooling

Aaswath Raman, Xiaobo Yin, Peter Bermel

JPE, Vol. 11, Issue 02, 022101, (June 2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JPE.11.022101

KEYWORDS: Solar energy, Raman spectroscopy, Photonics, Photovoltaics, Nanophotonics, Electronics, Titanium dioxide, Thermoelectric materials, Systems modeling, Silica

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Proceedings Article | 19 September 2011 Paper

Graphene optical modulator

Xiang Zhang, Xiaobo Yin, Ming Liu, Feng Wang

Proceedings Volume 8101, 81010J (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.899662

KEYWORDS: Graphene, Modulators, Silicon, Waveguides, Electrons, Absorption, Modulation, Optical modulators, Electrodes, Resistance

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Proceedings Article | 30 August 2006 Paper

Highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance chemical sensor based on Goos-Hanchen effects

Xiaobo Yin, Lambertus Hesselink

Proceedings Volume 6324, 63240B (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.679864

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Reflectivity, Surface plasmons, Interfaces, Resonance enhancement, Metals, Gold, Modulation, Reflection, Chemical fiber sensors

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Proceedings Article | 3 November 2003 Paper

Near-field multiphoton nanolithography using an apertureless optical probe

Xiaobo Yin, Ignacio Martini, Xiang Zhang, Nicholas Fang, Benjamin Schwartz

Proceedings Volume 5211, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.510920

KEYWORDS: Near field, Absorption, Spatial resolution, Polymerization, Lithography, Atomic force microscopy, Optical lithography, Multiphoton lithography, Femtosecond phenomena, Photoresist materials

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Conference Committee Involvement (5)

New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion V

23 August 2023 | San Diego, California, United States

New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion IV

4 August 2021 | San Diego, California, United States

New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion III

24 August 2020 | Online Only, California, United States

New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion II

11 August 2019 | San Diego, California, United States

New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion and Reliability

19 August 2018 | San Diego, California, United States

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