Professor Yuerui (Larry) Lu

Professor

CI and Program Manager in ARC Center of Excellence CQC2T

Future Leader Fellow from National Heart Foundation

Craig Building (35A), 205

yuerui.lu@anu.edu.au

+(61) 2 61259582

Bio
Research interests
Research projects
Student projects
PhD Students
Courses

Yuerui (Larry) Lu received his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University, the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in 2012. He holds a B.S. degree from department of Applied Physics at University of Science and Technology of China. In 2013, he joined the Australian National University as a research fellow and lecturer under the Future Engineering Research Leadership Fellowship. He is a full professor at the ANU. His research interests include MEMS/NEMS sensors and actuators, nano-manufacturing technologies, renewable energy harvesting, biomedical novel devices, nano-materials, nano-electronics, etc. He was the recipient of several awards, including the competitive Young Innovator Award from Springer Publishing Group in 2020, Future Leader Fellowship and Paul Korner Innovation Award from National Heart Foundation of Australia in 2019, Outstanding Supervisor Award for 3MT (3 minutes thesis) Competition from Australian National University in 2018, ACT Young Tall Poppy of 2016, Media and Outreach Award from Australian National University in 2015, Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) from Australian Research Council (ARC) in 2014, Future Engineering Research Leadership Fellow from Australian National University in 2013, MRS Graduate Student Award (Silver) in 2012 from Materials Research Society, Best Poster Award in 2012 from Cornell NanoScale Facility Annual Meeting, Daisy Yen Wu Scholarship in 2012 from Cornell University, Chinese Government Award for outstanding Ph.D. students in 2010, Guo Moruo Presidential Award in 2003 from University of Science and Technology of China, etc. He is serving as a reviewer for several journals, including Nature Communications, Light: Science and Applications, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, Small, Applied Physics Letters, Nanotechnology, Optics Express, Optics Letters, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, etc. He is serving as an associate editor for the nature publishing group journal Scientific Reports.

My research focuses on nanotechnologies, including micro/nano-electro-mechanical sensors and actuators, nano-scale energy conversion devices, biomedical devices, novel nano materials, etc. I am looking for highly motivated Ph.D. graduate students who are majoring in applied physics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, materials science engineering, biomedical engineering, or other closely related areas to join my research team. We always look for dedicated undergraduate or master students to join us, to do creative work in rapidly growing field and generate co-authored publications.

If you want to know more about my research area, please visit http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~NEMS.lab or https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/lu-yx/

Research Outline

Micro-/Nano-electro-mechanical System (MEMS/NEMS)
Nanolithography
Nano-structured thin-film solar cells
Nano-scale sensors and actuators
Low-dimensional quantum materials and integration
Energy harvesting
MEMS/NEMS based biomedical novel devices

Research Description

MEMS/NEMS based novel biomedical devices
The ability to detect bio-molecule at ultra-low concentrations (e.g. atto-molar) will enable the possibility of detecting diseases earlier than ever before. A critical challenge for any new bio-sensing technology is to optimize two metrics --- shorter analysis time, and higher concentration sensitivity in clinically relevant small volumes. Moreover, practical considerations are equally important: simplicity of use, mass producible (low cost), and ease of integration within the clinical structure. Compared with other methods, nano-electro-mechanical system (NEMS) based bio-sensors are promising in clinical diagnostics because of their extremely high mass sensitivity, fast response time and the capability of integration on chip. We have demonstrated a low concentration DNA (atto-molar sensitivity) optically interrogated ultrasonic mechanical mass sensor, which has ordered nanowire (NW) array on top of a bilayer membrane. This method represents a mass-based platform technology that can sense molecules at low concentrations, which could be useful for early-stage disease detection. We can develop this sensor further to measure an array of biomarkers (e.g. DNA or proteins), by providing both the needed specificity and sensitivity in physiological disease (e.g. cancer) detection.