Dr. Usman Younis

Professor, Department of Computer and Software Engineering

PhD - Electronics & Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow

  • usman.younis@itu.edu.pk

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Younis' research interests include active and passive photonic integration, optoelectronics, laser physics, applied non-linear optics, optical communications and networks. Currently, he is also working on the analytical modelling of 2-dimensional material systems.

Biography

Dr. Younis is a Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Information Technology University (ITU), Lahore, Pakistan. Previously, he has worked as an Assistant Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan, and as a Research Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

He has authored papers in leading peer-reviewed journals and has presented in several international conferences. He is a member of the Institute of Physics, a Senior Member of IEEE, and is a registered engineer at the Pakistan Engineering Council.

He was conferred “Sanad-e-Imtiaz” by the President of Pakistan. He is a recipient of Rector’s Gold Medal for MS studies.

  • [1]      S. Ahmad, S. Khanam, and U. Younis, “First principles study of thermal properties of Co-doped single-layer MoS 2 at room temperature,” Phys. Scr., vol. 100, no. 6, p. 65939, Nov. 2025, doi: 10.1088/1402-4896/add5a8.
  • [2]      K. Rana, A. N. Khan, M. Z. M. Khan, U. Younis, and M. Masood, “Machine Learning-Enhanced Denoising for Structured Light Modes in Realistic Optical Channels,” in Advanced Photonics Congress (IPR, Networks, NOMA, SOLITH, SPPCom), Optica Publishing Group, 2025, p. SpM4F.4. doi: 10.1364/SPPCOM.2025.SpM4F.4.
  • [3]      S. Ahmad, M. Zubair, and U. Younis, “Towards Accurate Determination of Optical Gaps in Layered Chalcogenides using Universal Scaling Law,” in Advanced Photonics Congress (IPR, Networks, NOMA, SOLITH, SPPCom), Optica Publishing Group, 2025, p. JTu3A.17. [Online]. Available: https://opg.optica.org/abstract.cfm?URI=NOMA-2025-JTu3A.17
  • [4]      S. Saeed, A. N. Khan, and U. Younis, “Evaluation of High-speed Transceivers for Free-space Optical Communication Beyond 5G Networks,” in Optica Imaging Congress 2025 (3D, DH, COSI, IS, pcAOP,RadIT), Optica Publishing Group, 2025, p. JVD1.6. [Online]. Available: https://opg.optica.org/abstract.cfm?URI=pcAOP-2025-JVD1.6
  • [5]      F. Rehman, S. Khanam, S. Ahmad, Q. Mehmood, and U. Younis, “Theoretical investigation on harvesting thermal energy beyond the visible spectrum in Ta-doped monolayer MoS2,” in Energy Harvesting and Storage: Materials, Devices, and Applications XIV, P. Bermel, N. C. Das, and Z. Omair, Eds., SPIE, Nov. 2024, p. 10. doi: 10.1117/12.3013453.
  • [6]      S. Ahmad, M. Zubair, and U. Younis, “Capturing of non-hydrogenic Rydberg series of exciton binding energy in two-dimensional mono-layer WS 2 using a modified Coulomb potential in fractional space,” Phys. Scr., vol. 98, no. 1, p. 15106, Nov. 2023, doi: 10.1088/1402-4896/acaa6a.
  • [7]      S. Saeed, A. N. Khan, and U. Younis, “FSO Beam Propagation Analysis for Fog Attenuation and Atmospheric Fluctuations Under Controlled Environment,” in Optica Imaging Congress (3D, COSI, DH, FLatOptics, IS, pcAOP), Optica Publishing Group, 2023, p. PM4F.4. doi: 10.1364/PCAOP.2023.PM4F.4.
  • [8]      A. N. Khan, M. Zubair, and U. Younis, “Modeling of optical wave propagation through turbulent atmosphere using fractional approach for FSO wireless communication,” J. Phys. Commun., vol. 7, no. 1, p. 15002, Nov. 2023, doi: 10.1088/2399-6528/acb1ef.
  • [9]      Y. Hashmy, Z. U. Khan, F. Ilyas, R. Hafiz, U. Younis, and T. Tauqeer, “Modular Air Quality Calibration and Forecasting Method for Low-Cost Sensor Nodes,” IEEE Sens. J., vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 4193–4203, Nov. 2023, doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2023.3233982.
  • [10]    A. N. Khan, S. Saeed, Y. Naeem, M. Zubair, Y. Massoud, and U. Younis, “Atmospheric Turbulence and Fog Attenuation Effects in Controlled Environment FSO Communication Links,” IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett., vol. 34, no. 24, pp. 1341–1344, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.1109/LPT.2022.3217072.
  • [11]    S. Ahmad, M. Zubair, O. Jalil, K.-W. Ang, and U. Younis, “Analytical Calculation of Exciton Binding Energy, Quasi-Particle Band Gap and Optical Gap in Strained Mono-layer MoS2,” J. Electron. Mater., vol. 50, no. 6, pp. 2964–2973, Nov. 2021, doi: 10.1007/s11664-020-08719-1.
  • [12]    T. Pu, U. Younis, H. C. Chiu, K. Xu, H. C. Kuo, and X. Liu, “Review of Recent Progress on Vertical GaN-Based PN Diodes,” 2021, Springer. doi: 10.1186/s11671-021-03554-7.
  • [13]    M. A. Naveed et al., “Optical spin-symmetry breaking for high-efficiency directional helicity-multiplexed metaholograms,” Microsystems Nanoeng., vol. 7, no. 1, p. 5, Nov. 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41378-020-00226-x.
  • [14]    O. Jalil, S. Ahmad, K. W. Ang, and U. Younis, “Behaviour of induced states of substitutional and adatom impurity doping on electronic transport properties of single-layer black phosphorus,” Phys. E Low-Dimensional Syst. Nanostructures, vol. 130, Nov. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.physe.2021.114701.
  • [15]    O. Jalil, S. Ahmad, A. N. Khan, K. W. Ang, and U. Younis, “Enhanced thermoelectric properties of 2D W_x Mo_(1-x) S_2 alloys based vertical heterostructures for energy storage applications,” in Energy Harvesting and Storage: Materials, Devices, and Applications XI, A. K. Dutta, P. Balaya, and S. Xu, Eds., SPIE, Nov. 2021, p. 19. doi: 10.1117/12.2586075.
  • [16]    A. Bilal, O. Jalil, S. Ahmad, A. N. Khan, and U. Younis, “Towards cavity-enhanced photodetection in Al-doped BP integrated with 2D photonic crystal and waveguide for mid-IR wavelengths,” in 2D Photonic Materials and Devices III, A. Majumdar, C. M. Torres, and H. Deng, Eds., SPIE, Nov. 2020, p. 37. doi: 10.1117/12.2544666.
  • [17]    O. Jalil, S. Ahmad, X. Liu, K. W. Ang, and U. Younis, “Towards theoretical framework for probing the accuracy limit of electronic transport properties of SnSe 2 using many-body calculations,” EPL (Europhysics Lett., vol. 130, no. 5, p. 57001, Nov. 2020, doi: 10.1209/0295-5075/130/57001.
  • [18]    A. Bilal, A. N. Khan, O. Jalil, S. Ahmad, U. Younis, and S. Iezekiel, “Port analysis using S-matrix for 2D metasurface waveguide coupler in mid-IR application,” in Integrated Photonics Platforms: Fundamental Research, Manufacturing and Applications, R. G. Baets, P. O’Brien, and L. Vivien, Eds., SPIE, Nov. 2020, p. 50. doi: 10.1117/12.2554694.
  • [19]    U. Ali, R. Hafiz, T. Tauqeer, U. Younis, W. Ali, and A. Ahmad, “Towards Machine Learning based Real-time Fault Identification and Classification in High Power Induction Motors,” in 2020 5th International Conference on Robotics and Automation Engineering (ICRAE), IEEE, Nov. 2020, pp. 46–53. doi: 10.1109/ICRAE50850.2020.9310879.
  • [20]    Y. Xiao et al., “Facile integration of MoS2/SiC photodetector by direct chemical vapor deposition,” Nanophotonics, vol. 5945, Nov. 2020, doi: 10.1515/nanoph-2019-0562.
  • [21]    O. Jalil et al., “First-principles method based electronic transport properties of two-dimensional SnSe2(1-x)X2x alloys,” in Advances in Ultrafast Condensed Phase Physics II, V. Yakovlev, S. Haacke, and S. Sharma, Eds., SPIE, Nov. 2020, p. 30. doi: 10.1117/12.2555314.
  • [22]    X. Liu et al., “3A-Amino-3A-Deoxy-(2AS, 3AS)-β-Cyclodextrin Hydrate/Tin Disulfide Modified Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode for the Electrochemical Detection of Polychlorinated Biphenyls,” Nanoscale Res. Lett., vol. 15, no. 1, p. 4, Nov. 2020, doi: 10.1186/s11671-019-3236-z.
  • [23]    S. Ahmad et al., “Generalized Scaling Law for Exciton Binding Energy in Two-Dimensional Materials,” Phys. Rev. Appl., vol. 13, no. 6, p. 64062, Nov. 2020, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.064062.
  • [24]    X. Liu et al., “Enhanced thermal conductivity of MoS2/InSe-nanoparticles/MoS2 hybrid sandwich structure,” J. Alloys Compd., vol. 777, pp. 1145–1151, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2018.11.073.
  • [25]    X. Liu et al., “Growth of necklace-like In2Se3 nanowires using MoS2 seed layer during PVD method,” J. Cryst. Growth, vol. 526, no. August, p. 125215, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2019.125215.
  • [26]    A. Bilal and U. Younis, “High coupling efficiency 2D metasurface integrated with strip waveguide in SOI for mid-IR wavelengths,” IET Optoelectron., vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 273–280, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2018.5146.
  • [27]    A. Bilal and U. Younis, “High coupling efficiency surface illuminated 2D metasurface waveguide coupler for mid-IR wavelengths,” in Integrated Optics: Design, Devices, Systems, and Applications V, P. Cheben, J. Čtyroký, and I. Molina-Fernández, Eds., SPIE, Nov. 2019, p. 4. doi: 10.1117/12.2520405.
  • [28]    X. Liu et al., “Effect of stress layer on thermal properties of SnSe2 few layers,” J. Alloys Compd., vol. 783, pp. 226–231, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2018.12.317.
  • [29]    A. N. Khan and U. Younis, “High-Q mid-infrared 1D photonic crystal waveguide resonator in SOI,” in Integrated Optics: Design, Devices, Systems, and Applications V, P. Cheben, J. Čtyroký, and I. Molina-Fernández, Eds., SPIE, Nov. 2019, p. 40. doi: 10.1117/12.2520830.
  • [30]    A. Bilal, U. Younis, and K.-W. Ang, “Towards High Coupling Efficiency Integrated 2D Meta-surface Waveguide Coupler for Mid-IR Wavelengths,” in Advanced Photonics 2018 (BGPP, IPR, NP, NOMA, Sensors, Networks, SPPCom, SOF), OSA, 2018, p. JTu5A.4. doi: 10.1364/BGPPM.2018.JTu5A.4.
  • [31]    U. Younis et al., “Towards low-loss waveguides in SOI and Ge-on-SOI for mid-IR sensing,” J. Phys. Commun., vol. 2, no. 4, p. 45029, Nov. 2018, doi: 10.1088/2399-6528/aaba24.
  • [32]    U. Younis et al., “Mid-IR waveguides in SOI platform,” in 2017 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Pacific Rim (CLEO-PR), IEEE, Nov. 2017, pp. 1–2. doi: 10.1109/CLEOPR.2017.8118714.
  • [33]    A. Riaz, H. F. Ahmad, A. K. Kiani, J. Qadir, R. U. R. RASOOL, and U. Younis, “Intrusion Detection Systems in Cloud Computing: A Contemporary Review of Techniques and Solutions.,” J. Inf. Sci. Eng., vol. 33, no. 3, 2017, doi: 10.6688/JISE.2017.33.3.2.
  • [34]    S. Ahamd, U. Younis, A. R. Yasin, and A. Plesca, “Design of a sliding mode controller to eliminate the limit cycle in chaotic Van der Pol system in comparison with state feedback controllers,” in 2017 International Conference on Electromechanical and Power Systems (SIELMEN), IEEE, Nov. 2017, pp. 53–58. doi: 10.1109/SIELMEN.2017.8123291.
  • [35]    U. Younis, S. K. Vanga, A. E.-J. Lim, P. G.-Q. Lo, A. A. Bettiol, and K.-W. Ang, “Germanium-on-SOI waveguides for mid-infrared wavelengths,” Opt. Express, vol. 24, no. 11, p. 11987, Nov. 2016, doi: 10.1364/OE.24.011987.
  • [36]    U. Younis, A. E.-J. Lim, P. G.-Q. Lo, A. A. Bettiol, and K.-W. Ang, “Propagation Loss Improvement in Ge-on-SOI Mid-Infrared Waveguides Using Rapid Thermal Annealing,” IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett., vol. 28, no. 21, pp. 2447–2450, Nov. 2016, doi: 10.1109/LPT.2016.2600503.
  • [37]    U. Younis, S. K. Vanga, A. A. Bettiol, and K.-W. Ang, “Towards Low-loss Mid-infrared Waveguides in Ge-on-SOI,” in Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, OSA, Nov. 2016, p. JTh2A.96. doi: 10.1364/CLEO_AT.2016.JTh2A.96.
  • [38]    U. Younis, A. A. Bettiol, and K.-W. Ang, “Mid-infrared waveguides in Ge-on-SOI,” in 2016 International Conference on Optical MEMS and Nanophotonics (OMN), IEEE, Nov. 2016, pp. 1–2. doi: 10.1109/OMN.2016.7565853.
  • [39]    M. Najam, U. Younis, and R. ur Rasool, “Speculative parallel pattern matching using stride-k DFA for deep packet inspection,” J. Netw. Comput. Appl., vol. 54, pp. 78–87, Nov. 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.jnca.2015.04.013.
  • [40]    U. Younis and A. N. Khan, “Propagation loss analysis of ion implantation induced quantum well intermixed GaAs/AlGaAs waveguides,” Chinese J. Phys., vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 1–10, 2015, doi: 10.6122/CJP.20150601B.
  • [41]    M. Najam, U. Younis, and R. U. Rasool, “Multi-byte Pattern Matching Using Stride-K DFA for High Speed Deep Packet Inspection,” in 2014 IEEE 17th International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, IEEE, Nov. 2014, pp. 547–553. doi: 10.1109/CSE.2014.125.
  • [42]    U. Younis, B. M. Holmes, and D. C. Hutchings, “Characterization and optimization of ion implantation for high spatial resolution quantum well intermixing in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices,” Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys., vol. 66, no. 1, p. 10101, Nov. 2014, doi: 10.1051/epjap/2014140020.
  • [43]    A. Ahmed, J. A. Khan, and U. Younis, “A high speed transmitter for visible light communications upto 50 Mbps,” in 2014 International Conference on Emerging Technologies (ICET), IEEE, Nov. 2014, pp. 153–157. doi: 10.1109/ICET.2014.7021035.
  • [44]    T. Ahmad and U. Younis, “Randomness testing of non-cryptographic hash functions for real-time hash table based storage and look-up of URLs,” J. Netw. Comput. Appl., vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 197–205, Nov. 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.jnca.2013.11.007.
  • [45]    A. Bilal, U. Younis, B. M. Holmes, D. C. Hutchings, and A. N. Khan, “Continuous-wave room-temperature laser action in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices,” in Advanced Solid State Lasers, OSA, 2014, p. ATu2A.48. doi: 10.1364/ASSL.2014.ATu2A.48.
  • [46]    S. Amin and U. Younis, “Self-image formation and variations in multimode interference waveguides with effects of temperature variation on device performance,” in 2013 3rd IEEE International Conference on Computer, Control and Communication (IC4), IEEE, Nov. 2013, pp. 1–6. doi: 10.1109/IC4.2013.6653736.
  • [47]    R. A. Ali, A. N. Khan, S. Arshad, and U. Younis, “Towards the development of LTE networks: Implementation of OpenIMSCore in asterisk/OpenBTS GSM network,” in 2013 International Conference on Open Source Systems and Technologies, IEEE, Nov. 2013, pp. 103–106. doi: 10.1109/ICOSST.2013.6720614.
  • [48]    A. S. Helmy et al., “Recent advances in phase matching of second-order nonlinearities in monolithic semiconductor waveguides,” Laser Photonics Rev., vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 272–286, 2011, doi: 10.1002/lpor.201000008.
  • [49]    F. S. Ujager, U. Younis, and S. M. H. Zaidi, “Improved Time Slotted OBS network architecture and a novel delay aware burst transmission algorithm to reduce the network data loss,” in 8th International Conference on High-Capacity Optical Networks and Emerging Technologies, HONET 2011, 2011, pp. 280–283. doi: 10.1109/HONET.2011.6149833.
  • [50]    S. J. Wagner et al., “Difference Frequency Generation by Quasi-Phase Matching in Periodically Intermixed Semiconductor Superlattice Waveguides,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron., vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 834–840, Nov. 2011, doi: 10.1109/JQE.2011.2126562.
  • [51]    S. J. Wagner et al., “Difference Frequency Generation in Domain-Disordered Quasi-Phase Matching Semiconductor Waveguides,” in Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics 2010, OSA, 2010, p. CThEE4. doi: 10.1364/CLEO.2010.CThEE4.
  • [52]    U. Younis, B. M. Holmes, D. C. Hutchings, and J. S. Roberts, “Towards monolithic integration of nonlinear optical frequency conversion,” IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett., vol. 22, no. 18, pp. 1358–1360, Nov. 2010, doi: 10.1109/LPT.2010.2055843.
  • [53]    S. J. Wagner et al., “Performance and limitations of quasi-phase matching semiconductor waveguides with picosecond pulses,” in Proceedings of SPIE, H. P. Schriemer and R. N. Kleiman, Eds., Nov. 2010, p. 77501K. doi: 10.1117/12.873093.
  • [54]    F. S. Ujager, S. M. H. Zaidi, and U. Younis, “A review of semiconductor lasers for optical communications,” in High-Capacity Optical Networks and Enabling Technologies (HONET), 2010, IEEE, Nov. 2010, pp. 107–111. doi: 10.1109/HONET.2010.5715754.
  • [55]    D. C. Hutchings, S. J. Wagner, B. M. Holmes, U. Younis, A. S. Helmy, and J. S. Aitchison, “Type-II quasi phase matching in periodically intermixed semiconductor superlattice waveguides,” Opt. Lett., vol. 35, no. 8, pp. 1299–1301, 2010, doi: 10.1364/OL.35.001299.
  • [56]    B. M. Holmes, U. Younis, D. C. Hutchings, S. J. Wagner, A. S. Helmy, and J. S. Aitchison, “Type-II Quasi-Phase-Matched Second-Harmonic Generation in Domain-Disordered Semiconductor Waveguides,” in Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/International Quantum Electronics Conference, OSA, 2009, p. JWA7. doi: 10.1364/CLEO.2009.JWA7.
  • [57]    S. J. Wagner, B. M. Holmes, U. Younis, A. S. Helmy, D. C. Hutchings, and J. S. Aitchison, “Controlling third-order nonlinearities by ion-implantation quantum-well intermixing,” IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett., vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 85–87, 2009, doi: 10.1109/LPT.2008.2008629.
  • [58]    S. J. Wagner, B. M. Holmes, U. Younis, A. S. Helmy, J. S. Aitchison, and D. C. Hutchings, “Continuous wave second-harmonic generation using domain-disordered quasi-phase matching waveguides,” Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 94, no. 15, pp. 23–26, Nov. 2009, doi: 10.1063/1.3119629.
  • [59]    S. J. Wagner, A. S. Helmy, J. S. Aitchison, U. Younis, B. M. Holmes, and D. C. Hutchings, “Control of the third-order nonlinearities in a GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice by ion implantation quantum well intermixing,” in Conference on Quantum Electronics and Laser Science (QELS) - Technical Digest Series, 2008. doi: 10.1109/QELS.2008.4553232.
  • [60]      U. Younis, B. M. Holmes, D. C. Hutchings, and J. S. Roberts, “Towards Monolithic Integration of Non-linear Optical Frequency Conversion.”

  • Session Chair in the International Symposium on Emerging Trends and Applications of Optics, Photonics, and Lasers, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, NUST, Islamabad, Pakistan.
  • Invited Speaker in the International Symposium on Emerging Trends and Applications of Optics, Photonics, and Lasers, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, NUST, Islamabad, Pakistan.
  • Keynote Speaker at "IEEE Explosion’14" / IEEE Day, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan.
  • Invited Speaker in the International Symposium on Emerging Technologies in Optical Communications and Semiconductor Devices, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, NUST, Islamabad, Pakistan.
  • Invited Speaker in the National Conference on Quantum Technologies, 2014, Hazara University, Mansehra, KPK, Pakistan.
  • Invited Speaker in The Rank Prize Optoelectronics symposium on Periodically-Modulated and Artificially Hetero-Structured devices, 2009, Grasmere, Cumbria, UK.
  • Plenary Talk in The International Conference and Workshop on Nano Science and Technology, 2012, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
  • Rector’s Gold Medal, NUST 5th PG Convocation, 2007, Rawalpindi.
  • “Sanad-e-Imtiaz — Government of Pakistan” – Distinctive achievement in Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) Examination, 2001, Islamabad.