Tien Khee Ng

September 2026

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  Dr. Tien Khee Ng named an SPIE Senior Member

  4 min read · Mon, Sep 14 2026

  Awards News

  photonics optoelectronics semiconductor optoelectronic devices integrated photonics Secure optical communication

  Dr. Tien Khee Ng has been named an SPIE Senior Member, recognizing his contributions to optics and photonics.

November 2023

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  Paper accepted in IEEE Photonics Journal!

  1 min read · Fri, Nov 24 2023

  News

  A brief account of photonics research activities in the selected countries in the Middle East and Africa is presented in this article. Though not comprehensive, we hope to provide a glimpse of the research landscape in the region, and the collaboration and connection with each other and the international partners.

May 2021

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  The KAUST Photonics Lab wins HSE Laboratory Safety Recognition Award

  1 min read · Sun, May 23 2021

  News

  The KAUST Photonics Laboratory, led by Professor Boon Ooi, has been awarded the KAUST Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Department’s Safety Culture Award in recognition of the Lab's tremendous growth in terms of safety throughout the year with a focus on collaboration, working as a team, caring for others and motivating others to be safe.

March 2021

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  Huafan Zhang's tutorial article was selected as an Editor's Pick

  1 min read · Fri, Mar 26 2021

  News

  Huafan Zhang, a Ph.D. student at KAUST Photonics Laboratory recently published her comprehensive tutorial article in AIP's Journal of Applied Physics. The article titled "InGaN-based nanowires development for energy harvesting and conversion applications" was selected as the Editor's Pick.​ ​ The tutorial "teaches the essential development of nitrogen-plasma-assisted molecular-beam-epitaxy grown InGaN nanowires as an application-inspired platform for energy harvesting and conversion applications by growing dislocation- and strain-relieved axial InGaN-based nanowires." The article is featured

February 2021

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  Tien Khee Ng recognized as IET and IOP Fellow

  3 min read · Tue, Feb 23 2021

  News

  Dr. Tien Khee Ng, principal research scientist, electrical and computer engineering, has been recently recognized as a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (IOP).

December 2020

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  Tien Khee Ng was elected Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET, formally FIEE)

  1 min read · Thu, Dec 17 2020

  News

  Dr. ​Tien Khee Ng has been elected Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET, formally FIEE). The fellow membership is awarded to "the high achievers – those respected professionals at the forefront of engineering, technology or cognate disciplines." It is the highest grade of IET membership.
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  Lasers: Accelerating Visible Light Communication

  1 min read · Mon, Dec 14 2020

  News

  "​THERE IS GREAT DEAL going for the use of light for wireless communication. Compared with the standard radio frequency bands employed by mobile devices, the bandwidth is unlicensed and more than a thousand times greater. However, despite these merits, it's not to say that it has to be one technology or the other. Far better is a future that sees light-based wireless communication merge with existing technologies operating in the radio and millimetre-wave regime to spawn a synergic scheme that drives a new era for connectivity."

July 2020

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  Jorge Holguín-Lerma receives 2020 IEEE Photonics Society Graduate Student Scholarship

  1 min read · Sun, Jul 12 2020

  News

  Laser Diodes GaN

  KAUST Ph.D. student Jorge Holguín-Lerma has recently been named a recipient of the 2020 IEEE Photonics Society Graduate Student Scholarship. Holguín-Lerma was one of only ten students worldwide to receive the Society’s most competitive scholarship for graduate students in photonics. The award acknowledges both his work at KAUST and the potential impact of his future research.

June 2020

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  Angling for underwater WiFi

  2 min read · Wed, Jun 10 2020

  News

  communications Computer science

  Scuba divers could send sea life shots in real time using an aquatic internet service.

October 2019

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  Hybrid integration of materials for ultraviolet detection

  1 min read · Sun, Oct 20 2019

  News

  Semiconductors are pervasive in consumer electronics and optoelectronics, and the related optical devices are deemed disruptive that Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 was awarded to the inventors of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which “has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources”. While AlInGaN-based lasers and LEDs, and silicon-based photodetectors are currently matured, unconventional usage based on the materials has demonstrated their further potential, including solar-hydrogen generation, indoor-horticulture, and high-speed communication. By combining the optical

February 2019

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  EE Graduate Seminar: Self-Assembled AlGaInN Axial-Nanowires on Unconventional Substrates

  1 min read · Sun, Feb 10 2019

  News

  Group-III nitrides (AlGaInN) feature direct bandgaps covering a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, making them suitable for solid-state lighting, chemical/biological sensing, water splitting, medical diagnostics, and optical communication. These nanowires defy the conventional crystal/epitaxial growth requirements of lattice-, thermal and crystal-structure-matching, as the nanostructures can be grown strain- and defect-free on various unconventional substrates, such as silicon and metals. The combinatorial choice of composition, layer-structure arrangement and materials (metal

August 2018

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  Special Section on Semiconductor UV Photonics for SPIE's Journal of Nanophotonics

  2 min read · Wed, Aug 15 2018

  News

  Dr. Tien Khee Ng (KAUST Photonics Laboratory) and Prof. Jianchang Yan (Chinese Academy of Sciences) collaborated in guest-editing the SPIE Journal of Nanophotonics (JNP) Special Section on Semiconductor UV Photonics. The issue comprises 12 accepted articles inclusive of 3 review articles. Special Section Guest Editorial: Semiconductor UV Photonics Tien Khee Ng, and Jianchang Yan J. Nanophoton. 12(4), 043501 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.12.043501 http://hdl.handle.net/10754/628715 Review articles 1. Enhancing the light extraction of AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes in the

July 2018

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  Semiconductor Today features "KAUST demonstrates nanowire GRINSCH diode for efficient UV-LED/laser applications"

  1 min read · Mon, Jul 23 2018

  News

  "AlGaN-based light-emitting devices are promising ultraviolet light sources to replace the existing UV gas lasers and UV lamps containing toxic substances (mercury). However, the performance of AlGaN-based UV emitters are limited, and in particular high-power UV laser diodes (emitting below 330nm) have not yet been reported. Moreover, the threshold operating voltages of reported UV laser diodes (>330nm) are quite high, surpassing 25V in lasing mode with high series resistance due to poor hole injection efficiency." "These limitations in device performance are attributed to several factors such

June 2018

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  Tien Khee Ng elevated to the rank of Senior Member of the Optical Society (OSA)

  1 min read · Wed, Jun 13 2018

  News

  The Optical Society of America announced​ the approval of Dr. Tien Khee Ng as a new Senior Member. In a statement Ian Walmsley, President of The Optical Society and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, said: "The Optical Society welcomes this year’s Senior Class and congratulates these members for their contributions to our global community."

March 2018

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  Semiconductor Today features "Semi-polar III-nitride integration for visible light communication"

  1 min read · Mon, Mar 19 2018

  News

  "Researchers based in Saudi Arabia and USA have used semi-polar indium gallium nitride (InGaN) quantum wells (QWs) to create a laser diode (LD) integrated with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) for visible light communication (VLC), smart lighting, and underwater wireless optical communications (UWOC)." "The team from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in the USA, and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia, comments: “Since the on-chip integration of various photonic
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  EE Graduate Seminar | AlInGaN Devices for Optical Wireless Communication

  1 min read · Sun, Mar 11 2018

  News

  Optical wireless communication (OWC) has gained its momentum in complementing the role of RF communication. Indoor visible-light communication (VLC), outdoor/terrestrial free-space communication (FSO), and underwater optical wireless communications (UWOC) all uses lasers and light-emitting diodes in realizing high data rate in the Mbit/s to Gbit/sec range. In this talk, we discuss the recent progress in the field of VLC and UWOC, focusing on how researchers capitalize on the advances and innovation in AlInGaN-based devices, to realize compact, small-footprint communication system and
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  KAUST Discovery, Phys.org, and eeNews LEDLighting features "Cleaning nanowires to get out more light"

  1 min read · Sun, Mar 4 2018

  News

  "A simple chemical surface treatment improves the performance of nanowire ultraviolet light-emitting diodes." "A technique for reducing the loss of light at the surface of semiconductor nanostructures has been demonstrated by scientists at KAUST." "Some materials can efficiently convert the electrons in an electrical current into light. These so-called semiconductors are used to create light-emitting diodes or LEDs: small, light, energy-efficient, long-lasting devices that are increasingly prevalent in both lighting and display applications." "Postdoc Haiding Sun and his KAUST colleagues

February 2018

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  Semiconductor Today features "III-nitride microphotodetector for visible light communication"

  1 min read · Thu, Feb 22 2018

  News

  "KAUST in Saudi Arabia claims a record 3.2 gigabit per second (Gbps) data-rate performance for visible light communications (VLC) at 405nm wavelength. The orthogonal-frequency division multiplex (OFDM) system used an indium gallium nitride multiple quantum well microphotodetector (μPD) receiver and laser diode source with quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) coding." "The researchers want to address the bandwidth and data security challenges for future high-speed mobile Internet, smart traffic, and Internet of Things (IoT). Bandgap limitations make the receiver portion of VLC systems

November 2017

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  Outreach Seminars at Effat University by Prof. Qiaoqiang Gan and Dr. Tien Khee Ng

  1 min read · Wed, Nov 29 2017

  News

  Prof. Qiaoqiang Gan and Dr. Tien Khee Ng presented research seminars on "Fresh Water Generation Using Solar Energy" and "Research at KAUST Photonics Laboratory".​

April 2017

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  Tien Khee Ng presented an invited talk "Nanowires for Optoelectronic and Solar Water Splitting Applications" at AOM 2017

  1 min read · Tue, Apr 25 2017

  News

  Tien Khee Ng presented an invited talk and chaired a Micro/nano Optics, Nanophotonics session at the 6th Conference on Advances in Optoelectronics and Micro/Nano-optics at Nanjing, China (April 23-26, 2017).
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  SCI Chemistry & Industry features "What a bright idea"

  1 min read · Tue, Apr 4 2017

  News

  "Thomas Alva Edison’s incandescent light bulb, patented in 1879, has served us well for more than a century. But, in the modern eco-conscious environment, it is fantastically wasteful – turning 98% of the electricity into heat rather than light." http://www.soci.org/chemistry-and-industry/cni-data/2016/9/what-a-bright-idea

March 2017

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  Semiconductor Today features "Semi-polar indium gallium nitride laser diode/waveguide photodiode combo"

  1 min read · Fri, Mar 24 2017

  News

  "Researchers based in Saudi Arabia and USA have integrated a waveguide photodetector (WPD) with a 405nm laser diode (LD) using free-standing semi-polar gallium nitride (GaN) technology." http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2017/mar/kaust_240317.shtml
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  Compound Semiconductor features "Researchers Simplify Fabrication Of Nanowire UV-LEDs On Silicon"

  1 min read · Mon, Mar 6 2017

  News

  KAUST team demonstrates dislocation-free AlGaN nanowires that spontaneously coalesce to allow device fabrication without planarization. https://compoundsemiconductor.net/article/101173-Researchers-simplify-fabrication-of-nanowire-UV-LEDs-on-silicon.html

February 2017

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  SPIE Newsroom features "Perovskite nanocrystals as color converters for record-breaking visible light communications"

  1 min read · Wed, Feb 22 2017

  News

  Cesium lead bromide perovskite nanocrystals are used to generate white light that can be used as both an efficient lighting source and for ultrafast data transfer. https://doi.org/10.1117/2.1201611.006756

October 2016

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  EE Times Europe News: "Nanowire LED fills the green-yellow gap in white light"

  1 min read · Fri, Oct 28 2016

  News

  LED

  "KAUST and KACST have come up with a novel way to fill the “green-yellow gap” typically seen in white-LED implementations based on multiple phosphors."

April 2016

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  EE Graduate Seminar | Human activities and connectivity powered by laser-diodes

  1 min read · Sun, Apr 24 2016

  News

  Laser Diodes data communication

  In this talk, we discuss our recent investigations on laser-diodes and the related light-emitting diodes material-structures for lighting, and data communications.
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  Taking the heat out of emitters

  1 min read · Sat, Apr 9 2016

  News

  Optical sensors Optical communications

  Semiconductor light-emitting diodes fabricated on a metal substrate are less prone to overheating.

December 2014

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  Zahed Receivs SABIC Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

  1 min read · Wed, Dec 10 2014

  News

  Photonics lab member Mohammed Zahed Mustafa Khan receivs SABIC postdoctoral fellowship award.​​

November 2014

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  Review paper published on Progress in Quantum Electronics

  1 min read · Thu, Nov 20 2014

  News

  Review paper on Self-assembled InAs/InP quantum dots and quantum dashes has been published on the review journal Progress in Quantum Electronics by Dr. Mohammed Zahed Mustafa Khan​​​.

May 2013

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  Zahed wins the Best Paper Award at the 2nd SIECPC

  1 min read · Fri, May 3 2013

  News

  Photonics lab member Mohammed Zahed Mustafa Khan won the Best Paper Award (Photonics Track) at the 2nd SIECPC.​​​