Faculty Directory

Carlos A. Rios Ocampo joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and IREAP as an assistant professor in August 2021 after completing his postdoc at MIT with Prof. JJ Hu. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Oxford in 2017 under Prof. Harish Bhaskaran's supervision, his M.S. degree in optics and photonics from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and his B.S. in physics from the University of Antioquia, Colombia in 2010.

Dr. Rios Ocampo is an expert in experimental and computational optics and photonics, demonstrated over 13 years of research using both integrated and free-space optical setups, which led to the creation of the world’s first light-based memory chip able to store data indefinitely and to carry in-memory computations, potentially changing the fundamentals of computing as we know them.

His current research interests include photonic and phase-change materials; nanoscale light-matter interactions, photonic integrated circuits and photonic (neuromorphic) computing.

In his spare time, Dr. Rios Ocampo enjoys spending time with friends and family; connecting with nature via hiking, camping, punting and other sports, including karate. A Colombian native, he has represented both Colombia and England on their national karate teams.

• Photonic materials
• Phase-change materials
• Nanoscale light-matter interactions
• Photonic integrated circuits
• Photonic (neuromorphic) computing

Fall 2023: ENMA300 Introduction to Materials Engineering 

Spring 2023: ENMA300 Introduction to Materials Engineering 

Spring 2022: ENMA481/ENMA681  Introduction to Electronic and Optical Materials/ Advanced Electronic and Optical Materials

Please visit Carlos's Google scholar for an up to date list:

1. Y. Zhang, Q. Zhang, C. Rios, et al. “Transient tap couplers for wafer-level photonic testing based on optical phase change materials.” ACS Photonics, ASAP article, 2021.
2. C. Ríos et al. “Ultra-compact nonvolatile photonics based on electrically reprogrammable transparent phase change materials.” arXiv:2105.06010, 2021.
3. Y. Zhang, C. Ríos, M.Y. Shalaginov, M. Li, A. Majumdar, T. Gu, J. Hu. “Myths and truths about optical phase change materials: A perspective.” Applied Physics Letters 118(21), 210501, 2021.
4. Y. Zhang et al. "Electrically reconfigurable nonvolatile metasurface using low-loss optical phase change material' Nat. Nanotechnology 16 (6), 661-666, 2021.
5. C. M. Schwarz, S. M. Kuebler, C. Rivero-Baleine, B. Triplett, M. Kang, Q. Altemose, C. Blanco, K. A. Richardson, Q. Du, S. Deckoff-Jones, J. Hu, Y. Zhang, Y. Pan, C. Ríos. "Structurally and morphologically engineered chalcogenide materials for optical and photonic devices" J. Opt. Microsystems 1(1), 2021.
6. C. Ríos, Y. Zhang, M. Shalaginov, S. Deckoff-Jones, H. Wang, S. An, H. Zhang, M. Kang, K. A. Richardson, C. Roberts, J. B Chou, V. Liberman, S. Vitale, J. Kong, T. Gu, J. Hu. "Multi-level electro-thermal switching of optical phase-change materials using graphene". Adv. Photonics Research. 202000034. 2021.
7. M. Shalaginov et al. "Reconfigurable all-dielectric metalens with diffraction-limited performance." Nat. Communications 12(1). 2021.
8. M. Y. Shalaginovr, S.D. Campbel, S. An, Y. Zhang, C. Ríos, et al. "Design for quality: reconfigurable flat optics based on active metasurfaces" Nanophotonics 9(11), 3505-3534, 2020.
9. C. Ríos, N. Youngblood, Z. Cheng, M. Le Gallo, W.H.P. Pernice, C.D. Wright, A. Sebastian & H. Bhaskaran. "In-memory computing on a photonic platform". Science Advances, 5(2), eaau5759, 2019.
10. Y. Zhang, et al. "Broadband Transparent Optical Phase Change Materials for High-Performance Nonvolatile Photonics". Nat. Communications 10 (1), 1-9, 2019.
11. S. García-Cuevas, L. Trimby, Y-Y. Au, V.K. Nagreddy, P. Hosseini, G. Rodriguez-Hernandez, C. Ríos, H.Bhaskaran & C.D. Wright. “A Nonvolatile Phase-Change Metamaterial Color Display”. Adv. Opt. Materials, p. 1801782, 2019.
12. N. Youngblood, C. Ríos, E. Gemo, J. Feldmann, Z. Cheng, A. Baldycheva, W.H.P. Pernice, C. D. Wright & H. Bhaskaran. "Tunable volatility of Ge2Sb2Te5 in integrated photonics". Adv. Functional Materials, p.1807571, 2019.
13. X. Li, N. Youngblood, C. Ríos, Z. Cheng, W.H.P. Pernice, C.D. Wright & H. Bhaskaran. "Fast and reliable storage using a 5-bit, non-volatile photonic memory cell". Optica, Vol. 6(1), 1-6, 2019.
14. J. von Keitz, J. Feldmann, N. Gruhler, C. Ríos, C. David Wright, Harish Bhaskaran & Wolfram Pernice. "Reconfigurable nanophotonic cavities with non-volatile response ". ACS Photonics, Vol. 5 (11), 4644-4649, 2018.
15. C. Ríos, M. Stegmaier, Z. Cheng, N. Youngblood, C.D. Wright, W.H.P. Pernice & H. Bhaskaran. "Controlled switching of phase-change materials by evanescent-field coupling in integrated photonics [Invited]" Opt. Mat. Express 8(9), 2018.
16. Z. Cheng, C. Ríos, N. Youngblood, C.D. Wright, W.H.P. Pernice & H. Bhaskaran. "Device‐Level Photonic Memories and Logic Applications Using Phase‐Change Materials". Advanced Materials, 30(32), 1802435, 2018.
17. Z. Cheng, C. Ríos, W.H.P. Pernice, C.D. Wright, A. Sebastian & H. Bhaskaran. "On-chip photonic synapse". Science Advances, Vol. 3 (9), e1700160, 2017.
18. J. Feldman, M. Stegmaier, N. Gruhler, C. Ríos, H. Bhaskaran, CD. Wright, WHP Pernice. "Calculating with light using a chip-scale all-optical abacus" Nature Communications, Vol 8 (1), 1256, 2017.
19. M. Stegmaier, C. Ríos, H, Bhaskaran, CD. Wright, WHP Pernice. "Non-volatile All-Optical 1x2 Switch for Chipscale Photonic Networks". Adv. Optical Materials, Vol. 5(1), 1600346, 2017.
20. G. Rodriguez‐Hernandez, P. Hosseini, C. Ríos, C.D. Wright, & H. Bhaskaran. "Mixed‐Mode Electro‐Optical Operation of Ge2Sb2Te5 Nanoscale Crossbar Devices". Advanced Electronic Materials, 3(8), 1700079, 2017.
21. C. Ríos, P. Hosseini, R. Taylor, H. Bhaskaran. "Color depth modulation and resolution in phase-change material nanodisplays". Advanced Materials. 28(23), 4720–4726, 2016.
22. M. Stegmaier, C. Rı́os, H. Bhaskaran & W.H.P. Pernice. "Thermo-optical effect in phase-change nanophotonics". ACS Photonics, 3(5), 828-835, 2016.
23. C. Ríos, M. Stegmaier, P. Hosseini, D. Wang, T. Scherrer, C.D. Wright, H. Bhaskaran, W.H.P. Pernice. "Integrated all-photonic non-volatile multi-level memory" Nature Photonics 9, 725-732, 2015.
24. C. Ríos, P. Hosseini, CD. Wright, H. Bhaskaran, WHP. Pernice. "On-chip photonic memory elements employing phase change materials". Advanced Materials 26(9), 1372-1377, 2014.
25. J.F. Barrera, M. Tebaldi, C. Ríos, E. Rueda, N. Bolognini, R. Torroba. "Experimental multiplexing of encrypted movies using a JTC architecture". Opt. Express, Vol. 20 (4), 2012.
26. E. Rueda, C. Ríos, J. F. Barrera, and R. Torroba. "Master key generation to avoid the use of an external reference wave in an experimental JTC encrypting architecture". Applied Optics, Vol. 51 (11), 2012.
27. J.F. Barrera, E Rueda, C. Ríos, N. Bolognini, M. Tebaldi, R. Torroba, "Experimental opto-digital synthesis of encrypted sub-samples of an image to improve its decoded quality". Optics Communications, Vol. 284 (19), 2011.
28. E. Rueda, C. Ríos, J. F. Barrera, R. Henao and R. Torroba. "Experimental multiplexing approach via code key rotations under a joint transform correlator scheme". Optics Communications, Vol. 284 (10), 2011.
29. C. A. Ríos, E. Rueda & J.F. Barrera. “Sistema Óptico de Encriptación de Doble Máscara de Fase bajo Arquitectura 4f”. TecnoLógicas, Special edition II, 75-96, 2010.
30. C. A. Ríos-Ocampo, E. Rueda, & J.F. Barrera. “Análisis de la Sensibilidad de un Sistema óptico de Encriptación Bajo Rotaciones de la Llave de Seguridad”. Revista Colombiana de Física 42(2), 5, 2010.