Wen Lei

Professor Wen Lei is a distinguished academic at the University of Western Australia, serving as Professor and Program Chair of Electrical and Electronic Engineering within the School of Engineering. He leads the Electronic Materials and Devices Research group in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering. An ARC Future Fellow since 2013, he also chairs the IEEE Western Australia Joint ESP Chapter (Electron Devices Society, Solid State Circuits Society, and Photonics Society). His research spans semiconductor materials development and device applications for infrared technologies, sensors, and energy conversion.

Professor Lei's research interests focus on Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), thin film infrared materials and sensors, novel low-dimensional semiconductor optoelectronic materials and devices (including quantum dots, nanowires, and 2D materials), chemi/bio sensors for environmental monitoring, and energy conversion/storage materials (solar cells, thermoelectrics, batteries). His work has resulted in numerous "first in the field" breakthroughs, including strained superlattices for defect filtering in HgCdTe/CdTe materials and the first MBE-grown HgCdSe infrared sensor.

His extensive publication record includes over 150 high-impact papers in top journals such as Applied Physics Reviews, Physical Review Letters, and Advanced Materials. Recent work shows a strong trend toward 2D materials for photodetection, spin engineering for enhanced electrocatalysis, and machine learning-assisted semiconductor growth. Professor Lei has demonstrated the first Australian-made prototype mid-wave HgCdTe infrared focal plane arrays with commercial format size.

• ARC Future Fellowship (2013)
• ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (2006)
• Multiple "Best Paper" Awards from IEEE journals and conferences
• UWA EECE Sustained High SURF Teaching Awards (2019)
• UWA EMS Faculty Teaching Awards (2018)

Professor Lei has successfully supervised numerous PhD and Master's students with five documented supervised works. His research is supported by substantial funding, including 14 grants totaling millions of dollars from ARC and other sources. Current projects include "Ultra-broadband photodetectors by hybridising graphene with Bi2O2Se nanoplates" (2025) and "National Atomic Layer Etching Facility" (2025), with strong industry interest from companies like PlanarTECH and Aselsan leading to multiple ARC Linkage awards.

Professor Lei leads the Electronic Materials and Devices Research group at UWA, with a strong international collaboration network. His research team works on MBE growth and fabrication of HgCdTe infrared sensors, novel HgCdSe infrared materials, advanced infrared sensors with novel architectures, on-chip integration of mid-infrared chemical sensors, and machine-learning assisted semiconductor material growth. The team contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through their work in clean energy and responsible consumption.