Christina M. Spaegele

Final-year PhD student in Applied Physics

About

Christina M. Spaegele

Christina M. Spaegele

Hi! I'm Christina M. Spaegele, a final-year Ph.D. candidate in in Applied Physics at Harvard University, working in the group of Professor Federico Capasso.
I received my M.Sc. in Applied Physics from Harvard University and a B.Sc. in Physics from Heidelberg University, Germany.
My research focuses on controlling the interaction of light and matter on the nanoscale to design novel nanophotonic devices. Check out my research page to learn more about it!

  • Occupation: Final-year PhD student
  • Affiliation: Harvard University
  • City: Cambridge, MA
  • Degree: Ph.D. Candidate
  • Email: spaegele@g.harvard.edu

Here is a link to my detailed resume :

Download Resume

Resume

Education

PhD Applied Physics, Nanophotonics Track

2019 - 2024

Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

Current GPA: 3.96/4

M.Sc. Applied Physics

2022

Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

B.Sc Physics, Minor in Computational Science

2015 - 2019

Ruprecht-Karls University, Heidelberg, Germany

Mini-MBA

Summer 2022

Harvard GSAS Business Club

Professional Experience

Research Intern, Optical Waveguide Design Team

Summer 2023

Meta Reality Labs

  • Developing waveguides for augmented reality applications.
  • Contributed to a proof of life demo presented to META CEO.

Intern, Technical Strategy Department, Electric/Electronics-Systems

Summer 2019

Robert Bosch GmbH

  • Optimized future EE-architectures in vehicles using evolutionary algorithms.
  • Improved optimization software through Java coding.
  • Supported the preparation and execution of EE-architecture workshops.

Selected Honors & Awards

  • Certificate of distinction in teaching, Harvard University (2021)
  • German Academic Foundation Scholarship (2015-2019) (awarded to top 0.5 % German students nationwide)
  • Glemser Foundation for future excellence Scholarship (2015)
  • Multiple university entrance diploma awards (2015):
    • FERRY-PORSCHE award for extraordinary performances in mathematics and physics/engineering
    • German Physical Society (DPG) award
    • German Mathematical Society (DMV) award
    • German Chemical Society (GDCh) award
    • Foundation Humanismus Heute (Latin) award

Research

My work focuses on controlling the interaction of light and matter on the nanoscale using nanostructures and 2D materials, intending to further explore the properties of structured light and to create novel nanophotonic devices such as compact holographic AR/VR systems, light sources, and detectors. Click on the image captions below to learn more!

Metasurface cavities
2D materials
Singular optics

Publications

An updated list of publications can be found on my Google Scholar page.

* denotes equal contribution.

Selected Publications

    1. Sydney, M., Meretska, M.L., Spaegele, C.M., Ossiander, M. and Capasso, F. Metasurface-controlled holographic microcavities. ACS photonics 11, no. 3 (2024):941-949.
    2. Spaegele, C.M., Tamagnone, M., Lim, S.W.D., Ossiander, M., Meretska, M.L. and Capasso, F. (2023). Topologically protected optical polarization singularities in four-dimensional space. Science Advances, 9(24), p.eadh0369.
    3. Lim, S.W.D., Park, J.S., Kazakov, D., Spaegele, C.M., Dorrah, A.H., Meretska, M.L. and Capasso, F. (2023). Point singularity array with metasurfaces. Nature Communications, 14(1), p.3237.
    4. Ossiander, M., Meretska, M.L., Rourke, S., Spaegele, C.M., Yin, X., Benea-Chelmus, I.C. and Capasso, F. (2023). Metasurface-stabilized optical microcavities. Nature Communications, 14(1), p.1114.
    5. Spaegele, C.M., Capasso, F. and Tamagnone, M. (2022). Open Optical Cavities based on Metasurfaces. Reviews of Electromagnetics, 1, invited comment.
    6. Spaegele, C.M., Tamagnone, M., Kazakov, D., Ossiander, M., Piccardo, M. and Capasso, F. (2021). Multifunctional wide-angle optics and lasing based on supercell metasurfaces. Nature Communications, 12(1), p.3787.
    7. Chaudhary, K.*, Tamagnone, M.*, Yin, X.*, Spaegele, C.M.*, Oscurato, S.L., Li, J., Persch, C., Li, R., Rubin, N.A., Jauregui, L.A. and Watanabe, K. (2019). Polariton nanophotonics using phase-change materials. Nature Communications, 10(1), p.4487.
    8. Tamagnone, M., Chaudhary, K., Spaegele, C.M., Zhu, A., Meretska, M., Li, J., Edgar, J.H., Ambrosio, A. and Capasso, F. (2019). High quality factor polariton resonators using van der Waals materials. arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.02177.

Conference proceedings

    1. Capasso, F., Lim, S.W.D. and Spaegele, C.M., Singularity engineering with metasurfaces: from 0D to 4D. High Contrast Metastructures XIII. SPIE, 2024.
    2. Lim, S.W.D, Park, J.S., Kazakov, D., Spaegele, C.M., Dorrah, A.H., Meretska, M.L. and Capasso, F., Point singularity array with metasurfaces for blue-detuned atomic traps. In Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XX, p. PC126490U. SPIE, 2023.
    3. Park, J.S., Vaillancourt, K., Lim, S.W.D., Spaegele, C.M. and Capasso, F., 2023, May. All-dielectric, visible wavelength focusing metalens with planar surface for mechanical robustness. In CLEO 2023.
    4. Martin, L., Gao, H., Makarova, O., Leitao, N., Zhu, Q.Z., Zhou, H., Spaegele, C.M., Machielse, B., Cremer, J., Walsworth, R. and Capasso, F., 2023. Nanoscale control and readout of nitrogen vacancy ensembles for imaging and many-body physics. Bulletin of the American Physical Society.
    5. Ossiander, M., Meretska, M.L., Rourke, S., Spaegele, C.M., Yin, X., Benea-Chelmus, I.C. and Capasso, F., 2022, May. Optical Microcavities Stabilized using Dielectric Metasurfaces. In CLEO 2022.
    6. Makarova, O., Martin, L., Spaegele, C.M., Zhou, H., Leitao, N., Zhu, Q.Z., Machielse, B., Cremer, J., Maskara, N., Park, H. and Walsworth, R., 2022. Towards non-equilibrium spin dynamics with spin spirals in dense ensembles of NV centers. In APS March Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2022, pp. K34-009).
    7. Spaegele, C.M., Tamagnone, M., Kazakov, D., Ossiander, M., Piccardo, M. and Capasso, F., 2021, August. External cavity lasers based on wide-angle multifunctional metasurfaces. In Metamaterials, Metadevices, and Metasystems 2021 (Vol. 11795, p. 1179519). SPIE.
    8. Spaegele, C.M., Tamagnone, M., Kazakov, D., Ossiander, M., Piccardo, M. and Capasso, F., 2021, May. Non-local multifunctional metasurfaces and their external cavity laser application. In CLEO 2021.
    9. Spaegele, C.M., Tamagnone, M., Kazakov, D., Piccardo, M. and Capasso, F., 2020, May. Metasurface-based external cavity diode laser. In CLEO 2020.
    10. Tamagnone, M., Meretska, M., Chaudhary, K., Spaegele, C.M., Zhu, A., Li, J., Edgar, J.H., Ambrosio, A. and Capasso, F., 2020, May. High Q-factor resonators and nanoantennas based on phonon polaritons in van der Waals materials. In CLEO 2020.
    11. Spaegele, C.M., Yin, X., Tamagnone, M., Chaudhary, K., Oscurato, S.L., Li, J., Li, R., Rubin, N., Jauregui, L.A., Kim, P., Edgar, J.H., Ambrosio, A. and Capasso, F., 2019, May. Reconfigurable Polaritonics using Phase Change Materials. In Spring conference German Physics Society 2020.
    12. Tamagnone, M., Chaudhary, K., Yin, X., Spaegele, C.M., Li, J., Oscurato, S., Rubin, N.A., Jauregui, L., Kim, P., Edgar, J.H., Ambrosio, A. and Capasso, F., 2019, May. Polariton Meta-Optics with Phase-Change Materials. In CLEO 2019.
    13. Yin, X., Spaegele, C.M., Tamagnone, M., Chaudhary, K., Oscurato, S.L., Li, J., Li, R., Rubin, N., Jauregui, L.A., Kim, P., Edgar, J.H., Ambrosio, A. and Capasso, F., 2019, May. Reconfigurable mid-infrared optical elements using phase change materials. In CLEO 2019.