Joonhee Lee, PhD

Research Interests

The recently pioneered optogenetic technique, allowing fast, spatially targeted control over neuronal activity by using light, has become a powerful driving force in neuroscience research and significantly enriched modern neuroscience with the expanding libraries of opsins and promoters and with other complementing methods. However, the dissection of complex functional brain microcircuits is constrained by seemingly insurmountable limitations due to the lack of versatile and practical miniaturized neurodevice technology. I successfully developed a new type of neural probe array with transparent ZnO semiconductors for simultaneous electrical recording and spatio-temporal optical modulation of neural activity, as well as fluorescence mapping ( Lee et al., Nat. Methods, 2015).

To bridge the technological gap between biomedical science and neuroscience in ways beyond those available today, my research focuses on the development of a) multifunctional neural interface technology for in-vivo applications, b) optical method of sensing biophysical phenomena in various biological systems and, c) nanomaterials and optoelectronics, from novel luminescent nanomaterials to integrated optoelectronic devices, with future biomedical/clinical applications in mind.

I will make use of my broad range of expertise and more than 10 years of experience in nanophotonics, optoelectronics, microdevice fabrication, and implantable neural device technology. I also pursue the multidisciplinary collaboration with the goal of providing a valuable new tool for use in basic neuroscience and clinical research communities.

Publications

[2017]

• Chen S, Zhang C, Lee J, Han J, Nurmikko A. (2017) High-Q, low-threshold monolithic perovskite thin-film vertical-cavity lasers . Advanced Materials, 29(16), 1604781.

[2016]

• Roh K, Lee J, Dang C, Breen C, Nurmikko A. (2016)Spectroscopy of optical gain in low threshold colloidal quantum dot laser media: Dominance of single exciton states . Optical Materials Express, 6(12): 3776-86.
• Won SS, Lee J, Venugopal V, K DJ, Lee J, Kim IW, Kingon AI, Kim SH. (2016) Lead-free Mn-doped (K0.5,Na0.5)NbO3 piezoelectric thin films for MEMS-based vibrational energy harvester applications . Applied Physics Letters, 108, 232908.
• Chen S, Roh K, Lee J, Chong WK, Lu Y, Mathews N, Sum TC, Nurmikko A. (2016) A Photonic Crystal Laser from Solution Based Organo-Lead Iodide Perovskite Thin Films.ACS Nano, 10(4): 3959-67.

[2015]

• Lee J, Ozden I, Song YK, Nurmikko AV. (2015) Transparent intracortical microprobe array for simultaneous spatiotemporal optical stimulation and multichannel electrical recording . Nat Methods, 12(12): 1157-62.

[2014]

• Roh K, Dang C, Lee J, Chen S, Steckel JS, Coe-Sullivan S, Nurmikko A. (2014) Surface-emitting red, green, and blue colloidal quantum dot distributed feedback lasers. Opt Express, 22(15): 18800-6.

[2013]

• Dang C, Lee J, Roh K, Kim H, Ahn S, Jeon H, Breen C, Steckel JS, Coe-Sullivan S, Nurmikko A. (2013) Highly efficient, spatially coherent distributed feedback lasers from dense colloidal quantum dot films . Applied Physics Letters, 103(17), 171104. *Also appeared on Research Highlights in Nature Materials
• Ozden I, Wang J, Lu Y, May T, Lee J, Goo W, O’Shea DJ, Kalanithi P, Diester I, Diagne M, Deisseroth K, Shenoy KV, Nurmikko A. (2013) A coaxial optrode as multifunction write-read probe for optogenetic studies in non-human primates.J Neurosci Methods, 219(1): 142-54.

[2012]

• Dang C, Lee J, Zhang Y, Han J, Breen C, Steckel JS, Coe‐SullivanS , Nurmikko A. (2012) A wafer‐level integrated white‐light‐emitting diode incorporating colloidal quantum dots as a nanocomposite luminescent material. Advanced Materials, 24(44), 5915-5918.
• Dang C, Lee J, Breen C, Steckel JS, Coe-Sullivan S, Nurmikko A. (2012)  Red, green and blue lasing enabled by single-exciton gain in colloidal quantum dot films. Nature Nanotechnology, 7(5), 335-339. *Also appeared on ACS’s Chemical & Engineering News, IoP’s Physics World, OSA’ Optics & Photonices News, SPIE’s News.