engineering

Shanhui Fan

Shanhui Fan is a engineering 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 Shanhui Fan rather than just read about it. In short: Shanhui Fan (Chinese: 范汕洄; born 1972) is a Chinese-born American electrical engineer and physicist, with a focus on theoretical, computational and numerical aspects of photonics and electromagnetism. He is a professor of electrical engineering, and a professor of applied physics (by courtesy) at Stanford University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Shanhui Fan (Chinese: 范汕洄; born 1972) is a Chinese-born American electrical engineer and physicist, with a focus on theoretical, computational and numerical aspects of photonics and electromagnetism. He is a professor of electrical engineering, and a professor of applied physics (by courtesy) at Stanford University. He is the director of the Edward L. Ginzton Lab and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy.

Education Fan did his undergraduate study in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China from 1988 to 1992. He completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1997, after which he continued as a postdoctoral researcher in the same group at MIT. His advisor was John D. Joannopoulos.

Career Fan joined Stanford's faculty of electrical engineering in April 2001. In 2012, he was a visiting professor of physics at University of Sydney. Since 2014, Fan has been the Director of the Edward L. Ginzton Lab. He was appointed Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and courtesy professor of Applied Physics through January 31, 2021.

Fan's research areas include nanophotonics, photonic crystals, metamaterials, topological photonics, plasmonics, solar cells. As of 2019, Fan has been granted approximately 57 patents.

Selected works Coupled Mode Theory For Optical Resonances: Shanhui Fan; Wonjoo Suh; J.D. Joannopoulos (2003). "Temporal coupled mode theory for Fano resonances in optical resonators". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 20 (3): 569–572. doi:10.1364/JOSAA.20.000569. PMID 12630843. Z. Yu; A. Raman; S. Fan (2010). "Fundamental limit of nanophotonic light trapping in solar cells". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (41): 17491–17496. arXiv:1004.2902. Bibcode:2010PNAS..10717491Y. doi:10.1073/pnas.1008296107. PMC 2955111. PMID 20876131. Modulation Induced Non-Reciprocity: Z. Yu; S. Fan (2009). "Complete optical isolation created by indirect interband photonic transition". Nature Photonics. 3 (2): 91–94. Bibcode:2009NaPho...3...91Y. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2008.273. K. Fang; Z. Yu; S. Fan (2012). "Realizing effective magnetic field for photons by controlling the phase of dynamic modulation". Nature Photonics. 6 (11): 782–787. Bibcode:2012NaPho...6..782F. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2012.236. S2CID 33927607. Daytime Radiative Cooling: A. Raman; M. A. Anoma; L. Zhu; E. Rephaeli; S. Fan (2014). "Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight". Nature. 515 (7528): 540–544. Bibcode:2014Natur.515..540R. doi:10.1038/nature13883. PMID 25428501. S2CID 4382732. Fan, Shanhui; Li, Wei (March 2022). "Photonics and thermodynamics concepts in radiative cooling". Nature Photonics. 16 (3): 182–190. Bibcode:2022NaPho..16..182F. doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00921-9. S2CID 246668570.

Awards and honors R. W. Wood Prize, Optica (2022), "For foundational discoveries in photonics, ranging from resonator, topological, and non-reciprocal photonics to energy applications including the discovery of daytime radiative cooling based on a new kind of energy source." Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (2017) Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in Physics (2015–) Fellow, IEEE (2010), for “contributions to nanophotonics”. Fellow, SPIE (2010) Fellow, the American Physical Society (2008), for “contributions to the theory and applications of nanophotonic structures and devices, including photonic crystals, plasmonics and meta-materials. Fellow, the Optical Society of America (2008), “For many deep and creative contributions to physics, analysis, and novel devices in semiconductor, dielectric and metallic optical nanostructures”. The Adolph Lomb Medal from the Optical Society of America (2007), “For fundamental work in nano-photonic structures”. The William O. Baker Award for Initiatives in Research (previously the NAS Award for Initiatives in Research) (2007), “For innovative research on the theory and applications of photonic crystal devices”. David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering (2003) National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award (2002)

References

External links Google Scholar, Shanhui Fan Shanhui Fan Profile at Stanford University

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shanhui Fan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shanhui Fan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, 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 Shanhui Fan 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 Shanhui Fan 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 Shanhui Fan

In research: Shanhui Fan appears in engineering 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 Shanhui Fan 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: Shanhui Fan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1972 births, 20th-century American engineers, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shanhui Fan 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 Shanhui Fan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shanhui Fan 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 Shanhui Fan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shanhui Fan in simple terms?

Why does Shanhui Fan matter?

Because it connects several engineering 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 Shanhui Fan?

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 Shanhui Fan.