Leland Nordin is an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida, holding a joint appointment between the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL). He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics with honors from Grinnell College, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical and computer engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. After completing his graduate studies,  Nordin held a postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University’s Geballe Lab for Advanced Materials.

His research lab specializes in the design, growth, fabrication, and characterization of semiconductor materials and devices. The lab focuses on semiconductor devices that emit or detect light, employing nanostructuring techniques to enhance light-matter interactions and significantly improve device performance. His current research interests include ultra-wide band gap materials (III-N’s) and devices (UVC lasers, LEDs, and detectors), as well as nanophotonic and heteroepitaxial devices using III-V semiconductors (low-cost detectors, novel emitters, and nanophotonic single-photon detectors).

Nordin has received several awards, including the 2024 Early Career Program (ECP) award from the Army Research Office (ARO), the 2025 Young Investigator Program (YIP) award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and the 2025 UCF Reach for the Stars Award.

• Epitaxial materials
• Semiconductors
• Light-matter interaction
• Photonics
• Optoelectronic devices

• Nordin and D. Wasserman, “Epitaxial mid-ir nanophotonic optoelectronics”, Applied Physics Letters 120, 220501 (2022).
• Nordin, A. J. Muhowski, and D. Wasserman, “High operating temperature plasmonic infrared detectors”, Applied Physics Letters 120, 101103 (2022).
• Nordin, P. Petluru, A. Kamboj, A. J. Muhowski, and D. Wasserman, “Ultra-thin plasmonic detectors”, Optica 8, 1545–1551 (2021).
• Nordin, A. Kamboj, P. Petluru, E. Shaner, and D. Wasserman, “All-Epitaxial Integration of Long-Wavelength Infrared Plasmonic Materials and Detectors for Enhanced Responsivity”, ACS Photonics 7, 1950–1956 (2020).
• Nordin, K. Li, A. Briggs, E. Simmons, S. R. Bank, V. A. Podolskiy, and D. Wasserman, “Enhanced emission from ultra-thin long wavelength infrared superlattices on epitaxial plasmonic materials”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 116, Editor’s Pick (2020).

• 2025 UCF Reach for the Stars Award
• 2025 Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award
• 2024 Army Research Office Early Career Program (ECP) Award
• 2022 Ben Streetman prize for “Outstanding Research in Electronic and Photonic Materials and Devices” (UT Austin)
• 2021 – 2023 Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (Stanford University)
• 2021 Margarida Jacome Dissertation Prize (UT Austin)
• 2020 Graduate School University Continuing Graduate Fellowship (UT Austin)
• 2020 Thrust 2000 – Jeff Heller Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Engineering (UT Austin)
• 2017 – 2020 Dr. Brooks Carlton Fowler Endowed Presidential Graduate Fellowship in ECE (UT Austin)
• 2017 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention (NSF)

• Materials Research Society 
• Optica
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 

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