Jian-Rong Gao

Research Interest: Superconducting THz detectors, THz quantum cascade lasers,  and space instrumentation

Academic Background: Dr. Gao is an Associate Professor (affiliated) in Optics Research Group, the Department of Imaging Physics at Delft University of Technology and a theme leader on “Sensing from Space” at TU Delft Space Institute (DSI). He is also a senior instrument scientist at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research,  and the Head of Cryogenic Instrument (Cryo-L) Section at SRON-Leiden within Instrument Science Group.

Gao has successfully supervised eight  PhD students and many post-doctors. He has been the project leader for a number of projects run between SRON and TU Delft, especially NASA STO2 balloon borne THz observatory (2016) and GUSTO balloon borne THz observatory (2023).  He has published more than 300 papers as the author or a coauthor in the following areas: Superconducting NbN or MgB2  hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers, HEB arrays, THz quantum cascade lasers, THz Fourier phase gratings, THz wave-front sensors, THz beam filter, Transition edge sensors (TES) for Far-Infrared and X-ray, Frequency domain multiplexing (FDM) for TES arrays, space instrumentation, KIDs, SIS mixers, Superconductor/2DEG structures, nano MOSFET structures and physics,

Gao is the co-chair of the Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy conference, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation;  an associate editor of the Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS); and a scientific advisory committee member of the International Symposiums on Space Terahertz Technology ( ISSTT).