Congratulations to Nawal on Successfully Passing Her PhD Stage Transfer Assessment

On February 6th, 2026, Nawal successfully progressed to Stage 2 of her PhD studies.

Nawal’s work focuses on lithium niobate, the “industry standard” for optical modulators. While this material is already a cornerstone of modern optics, Nawal is looking to push its boundaries by miniaturizing components to the chip scale. This has the potential to transform a wide-range of electro-optic applications, from ultra-sensitive sensing to advanced catalysis.

Nawal’s stage transfer presentation centered on Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)-based nanolithography. By optimizing machining techniques, she is discovering how to sculpt lithium niobate with high precision.

As she enters this next stage of her PhD, she is looking further into integrating the technique with ferroelectric domain inversion. These developments will advance the next generation of lithium niobate based on-chip scale devices.