Zenghu Chang

Zenghu Chang is Full Professor in the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Ottawa, and inaugural Canada Excellence Research Chair in Attosecond X-ray Photonics (2024–present). Previously he held named chairs at the University of Central Florida (Trustee Chair, Pegasus Professor) and Kansas State University (Ernest & Lillian Chapin Professor), and served as founding director of the Institute for the Frontier of Attosecond Science and Technology. An elected Fellow of both the American Physical Society and Optica (formerly OSA), he is internationally recognized for developing tabletop attosecond X-ray sources spanning the soft-to-tender X-ray range.

Education:

• PhD, Optics – Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1988)
• MSc, Electron and Ion Physics – Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1985)
• B.E., Electrical Engineering – Xi’an Jiaotong University (1982)

Dr. Chang’s research program centers on attosecond light sources, pushing the frontiers of time resolution to the sub-femtosecond regime. His team builds tabletop keV attosecond X-ray sources based on high-harmonic generation driven by state-of-the-art mid-infrared OPCPA systems. These sources enable real-time observation of electron dynamics in atoms, molecules, and solids, with direct applications to quantum materials, solar-energy conversion, and ultrafast chemistry.

Recent work focuses on waveform-controlled mid-IR lasers, plasmon-enhanced harmonic generation, and cryogenically cooled Fe:ZnSe amplifiers, delivering few-cycle, multi-millijoule pulses at 2–5 µm. These advances are critical for scaling attosecond photon flux into the water-window spectral region (280–530 eV), thereby allowing element-specific attosecond spectroscopy of every atom in the periodic table.

Scientific Awards & Honors:

• Canada Excellence Research Chair in Attosecond X-ray Photonics (2024)
• University Trustee Chair, University of Central Florida
• Pegasus Professor, University of Central Florida
• Distinguished Professor, University of Central Florida
• Ernest & Lillian Chapin Professor, Kansas State University (2009)
• Fellow, American Physical Society
• Fellow, Optical Society of America (Optica)

Research Environment & Funding: Dr. Chang leads a major collaborative program supported by the Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) program, providing up to CAD 8 M over seven years. His laboratory at 25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, houses custom-built mid-IR OPCPA systems, cryogenic amplifiers, attosecond beamlines, and pump-probe spectroscopy end-stations. The group actively partners with national facilities and international synchrotron/free-electron-laser centers to transition tabletop attosecond sources into user facilities for materials science and chemical physics.

Laboratory & Team: The Attosecond X-ray Photonics Laboratory operates in the Advanced Research Complex (ARC 537) at the University of Ottawa. The team includes post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and technical staff specializing in ultrafast laser engineering, nonlinear optics, attosecond metrology, and X-ray spectroscopy.