physics

Laura Na Liu

Laura Na Liu is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Laura Na Liu rather than just read about it. In short: Laura Na Liu (born 1979) is a Chinese physicist focused on researching nano-optics of three-dimensional meta materials as it applies to biology and chemistry. After receiving her undergraduate and master's degree in China, she has had many global opportunities for education and research including Germany and the United States of America.

Key takeaways

Laura Na Liu belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Laura Na Liu to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Laura Na Liu from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Laura Na Liu (born 1979) is a Chinese physicist focused on researching nano-optics of three-dimensional meta materials as it applies to biology and chemistry. After receiving her undergraduate and master's degree in China, she has had many global opportunities for education and research including Germany and the United States of America. Today, she is a professor at University of Stuttgart in Germany. She has received several awards for her contributions in the field of optics.

Biography Liu has completed her higher education all over the world. As a young woman, Liu completed her studies in Beijing and Hong Kong before she moved to Germany and earned a doctorate degree in physics at University of Stuttgart in 2009. In order to succeed, she had to overcome the culture shock between the two countries' lifestyles. A year later she became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2011, she transitioned again to Rice University to be a Texas Instrument Visiting professor. The following year, Liu joined the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and led the "Small Nanoplasmonics" research group. Since 2015, Liu moved back to Germany and is a professor at University of Stuttgart. Liu has also been married since receiving her degrees in China.

Scientific contributions Only being a PhD candidate before 2009, she published 11 papers before receiving her degree. Through Liu's research efforts, she has become a leading scientist in optics as it pertains to DNA and catalytic chemistry. Much of the research she conducts is on the nano (less than 3 nm) level. Liu designs and studies 3D meta-materials which are classified as smaller than visible light's wavelength. These can play an important role to understand small scale biological structures and even metal interactions. In addition, she was involved in designing an absorber device for optical sensing, even through metal interference.

Publications Liu has been a prolific publisher since 2008. A few of her most cited articles as of 2020 tracked by Web of Science are:

Liu, N., Mesch, M., Weiss, T., Hentschel, M., & Giessen, H. (2010). "Infrared Perfect Absorber and Its Application as Plasmonic Sensor" Nano Letters, 10(7), 2342–2348. doi.10.1021/NL9041033 Liu, N., Langguth, L., Weiss, T., Kästel, J., Fleischhauer, M., Pfau, T., & Giessen, H. (2009). "Plasmonic analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency at the Drude damping limit" Nature Materials, 8(9), 758–762.doi.org/10.1021/NL9041033 Liu, N., Mesch, M., Weiss, T., Hentschel, M., Giessen, H. (2010) "Planar Metamaterial Analogue of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency for Plasmonic Sensing" Nano Letters, 10(4),1103-1107 doi.10.1021/NL902621D Liu, N., Tan, M., Hentshcel, M., Giessen, H., Alivisatos, A. (2011) "Nanoantenna-enhanced gas sensing in a single tailored nanofocus" Nature Materials 10, 631–636 doi. 10.1038/NMAT3029 Liu, N., Guo, H., Fu, L., Kaiser, S., Schweizer, H., Giessen, H. (2008) "Three-dimensional photonic metamaterials at optical frequencies" Nature Materials, 7, 31-37 doi 10.1038/NMAT2072

Awards By incorporating chemistry and biology into nano-photonics, Liu has advanced the multidisciplinary collaboration and research within this field. She has gained much recognition for her hard work within the field at such a young age. Over the years, Liu has received many awards including:

2023 Fellow of the American Physical Society "for seminal contributions to the development of three-dimensional optical metamaterials and leadership in paving the new research field of DNA-based 3D dynamic nanophotonics" 2020 Fellow of Optica 2019: Adolph Lomb Medal (awards a young scientist or engineer who has greatly advanced the field of optics by The Optical Society) 2019: Nano Letters Young Investigator Lectureship Award (awards large contribution in the field of nano-science and technology) 2018 & 2019: Highly Cited Researcher by the Web of Science 2018: Kavli Foundation Early Career Lectureship in Materials Science (awards young researchers who show great potential for leadership within their career and advances the field greatly by the Materials Research Society; winners are also given a monetary prize and the ability to present their research at the award ceremony) 2018: Rudolf-Kaiser Prize 2016: IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics (awards 8 years of excellent research after completion of Ph.D; winners are also given a monetary prize, medal and ability to present their research at the award conference) 2015: Light 2015 Young Women in Photonics Award (given by the European Optical Society) 2014: Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Award (awards young researchers within the country who have had quick career advancements by the German Research Foundation and are highly encouraged to continue their hard work; winners are given a monetary prize) 2014: European Research Council Starting Grant 2013: Elisabeth Schiemann-Kolleg of the Max Planck Society Fellowship 2010: Hertha Sponer Prize of the German Research Foundation

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Laura Na Liu

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Laura Na Liu claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Laura Na Liu before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Laura Na Liu ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Laura Na Liu

In research: Laura Na Liu appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Laura Na Liu in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Laura Na Liu is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1979 births, 21st-century Chinese physicists, Academic staff of Heidelberg University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Laura Na Liu outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Laura Na Liu in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Laura Na Liu means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Laura Na Liu out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Laura Na Liu in simple terms?

Why does Laura Na Liu matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Laura Na Liu?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Laura Na Liu.