Professor Benfeng Bai received his B.Sc. degree and Ph.D degree in Optical Engineering from Tsinghua University, China, in 2001 and 2006, respectively. From 2006 to 2009, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Physics and Mathematics in University of Joensuu, Finland. In 2009, he became a faculty member in the Department of Precision Instrument at Tsinghua University. He is now Tenured Professor and principal investigator of the Nanophotonics Group with research emphases on Advanced Nano-devices, Nano-fabrication and Nano-measurement based on Near-field Optics to tackle the most urgent academic and engineering challenges and demands of the nation and the academic society.

So far, Professor Bai has published more than 100 research papers in international journals including Nature Communications, Light: Sci. & Appl., Nano Letters, Advanced Functional Materials, Laser & Photonics Reviews, Small, etc., has given more than 20 invited presentations in international conferences, has acted as the chairs or main organizers of more than 10 international conferences, has delivered 5 short courses in international workshops and summer schools, and has been granted more than 30 international and Chinese patents.

As the responsible leader, he has led more than 10 research projects funded by the major funding agencies in China, including the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He is currently serving as one of the coordinators of the Sino-French Optoelectronics and Photonics International Research Network (PHOTONET), a board member of the National Technical Committee on Standardization of Nanotechnology of China, a board member of the Instrument Group of Micro and Nano Professional Committee of the Chinese Society for Optical Engineering (CSOE), and a board member of the Metamaterial Branch of Chinese Materials Research Society. During 2014-2020, he has acted as a Topical Editor for Optics Letters, an Optica (formally OSA) journal.

He has won the Award of Jin Guofan Young Scholar issued by the China Instrument and Control Society in 2011 and SPIE Community Champion issued by SPIE in 2022.

Representative publications:
1.K. Ding, Q. Zhou,* M. Chen, K. Shao, X. Wang, X. Liang,* K. Ni,* and B. Bai*, “Deep learning empowered parallelized metasurface computed tomography snapshot spectral imaging,” Adv. Mater. 2025, 2419383 (2025).
2.Y.-X. Han, B. Bai,* J.-Y. Zhang, J.-T. Huang, P.-Yi Feng, and H.-B. Sun,* “Light-modulated van der Waals force microscopy,” Nat. Commun. 15, 9104 (2024).
3.J.-T. Huang, B. Bai,* Y.-X. Han, P.-Y. Feng, X.-J. Wang, X.-Z. Li, G.-Y. Huang, and H.-B. Sun,* “Super-resolution exciton imaging of nanobubbles in 2D semiconductors with near-field nanophotoluminescence microscopy,” ACS Nano 18, 272-280 (2024).
4.Z. Sun, Y. Li*, B. Bai*, Z. Zhu, and H.-B. Sun*, “Silicon nitride-based Kerr frequency combs and applications in metrology,” Adv. Photon. 4, 64001(2022).
5.S.-Y. Liang, Y.-F. Liu*, S.-Y. Wang, Z.-K. Ji, H. Xia*, B. Bai*, H.-B. Sun, “High-resolution patterning of 2D perovskite films through femtosecond laser direct writing,” Adv. Funct. Mater. 32, 0224957 (2022).
6.X. Zhang, B. Bai*, H.-B. Sun, G. Jin, and J. Valentine*, “Incoherent optoelectronic differentiation based on optimized multilayer films,” Laser Photon. Rev. 16, 2200038 (2022).
7.X. Zhang, Y. Zhou, H. Zheng, A. E. Linares, F. C. Ugwu, D. Li, H.-B. Sun, B. Bai*, and J. G. Valentine*, “Reconfigurable metasurface for image processing,” Nano Lett. 21, 8715-8722 (2021).
8.T. Cui, L. Sun, B. Bai*, and H.-B. Sun*, “Probing and imaging photonic spin-orbit interactions in nanostructures,” Laser Photon. Rev. 15, 2100011 (2021).
9.T. Cui, M. Zhang, L. Sun, S. Zhang, J. Wang, B. Bai*, and H.-B. Sun*, “Spin-symmetry-selective generation of ultracompact optical vortices in nanoapertures without chirality,” Small Struct. 1, 2000008 (2020).
10.G. Yang, Q. Shen, Y. Niu, H. Wei, B. Bai*, M. H. Mikkelsen*, and H.-B. Sun, “Unidirectional, ultrafast and bright spontaneous emission source enabled by a hybrid plasmonic nanoantenna,” Laser Photon. Rev. 14, 1900213 (2020).
11.L. Sun, B. Bai*, J. Wang, M. Zhang, X. Zhang, X. Song, and L. Huang, “Probing the photonic spin–orbit interactions in the near field of nanostructures,” Adv. Fun. Mater. 29, 1902286 (2019).
12.T. Cui, B. Bai*, and H.-B. Sun*, “Tunable metasurfaces based on active materials,” Adv. Fun. Mater. 29, 1806692 (2019).
13.Z. Zhu, B. Bai*, O. You, Q. Li, and S. Fan, “Fano-resonance boosted cascaded field enhancement in a plasmonic nanoparticle-in-cavity nanoantenna array and its SERS application,” Light: Science & Applications 4, e296 (2015).