Dr. Usman Habib

• HEC Approved PhD Supervisor
• Associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK

On-going Research Projects:

• Principal Investigator (PI): SUPARCO-GIKI collaborative project “Development of Free-space optical (FSO)/ Laser satellite communication prototype with AI-assisted digital signal processing, and energy efficient self-powered photodetector-based receiver” worth PKR 4 Million.
• Patent and Prototype Support Grant from Directorate of Science & Technology KPK worth PKR 150,000 to develop broadband FSO-based link for mountainous rural areas of KPK.
• Principal Investigator (PI):DICE-GIKI project on “Development of Smart Management System for Electric Vehicles” worth PKR 0.58 Million.
• National Graduate Internship and Research Initiative (NGIRI) grant worth PKR 80,000 for FYP related to Performance improvement of BLDC motors for EVs, July 2025.

Optoelectronics Research Group

The main research area(s) of Optoelectronics Research Group include:

Modeling, simulation, and experimental characterization of optoelectronic devices including transmitters (LED, LD, VCSEL), Receivers (pin photodiode, avalanche photodiode), Solar cells (heterojunction, perovskite, quantum dot).

Supervised/under-supervision Postgraduate Students:

• Nadia Anwar (PhD in-progress with research on Perovskite solar cells)
• Sana Azmat (PhD in-progress with research on Optoelectronic Sensors)
• Shah Rukh (MS in-progress with research on HTL-free Perovskite Solar cells)
• Yusra Murad (MS in-progress with research on all-oxide solar cells)
• Hafsa Naseer (MS in-progress with research on solar cells)
• Taimour Zada (MS in-progress)
• Azaz Hassan (MS in-progress)
• Saqib Javed (MS in-progress)
• Saad Rustum (MS completed in Sep 2025 with research on AI-assisted FSO satellite comm)
• S. Wageeha Shakir (MS completed in Dec 2024 )
• Anum Ali (MS completed in Dec 2024)
• Iqra Anjum (MS completed in May 2025)

Selected Publications:

• Rustum, S., Habib, U., Ahmed, S., Usman, M., & Qureshi, M. A. (2026). Clustering-assisted channel estimation for free-space optical satellite communication. Optics Communications, 133011.
• Anwar N, Habib U, Ali A, Awan AH, Khan S, Masood MT. Interface-engineered Sn-based perovskite solar cells using cost-effective dual functional TiO2 based transport layers for enhanced efficiency. Physica Scripta. 2026 Jan 16;101(2):025916.
• Khan, J., Jan, S., Ifitkhar, S., Yaqoob, A., Rehman, U. U., Cheema, T. A., … & Habib, U. (2025). Design and Performance Optimization of Battery Pack with AI-Driven Thermal Runaway Prediction. Materials Proceedings, 23(1), 17.
• Anum, Usman, M., & Habib, U. (2025). Tailoring quantum wells in AlGaInP laser diodes for superior optical performance. Physica Scripta, 100(3), 035108.
• Anjum, I., Usman, M., Habib, U., & Ali, S. (2025). Improving mid-infrared emission in GaInSb/AlGaInSb LEDs through lattice mismatch and carrier dynamics control. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 42(4), 906-912.
• Shakir, S. W., Usman, M., Habib, U., Ali, S., Bashir, J., & Noor, Z. (2024). 221 nm far ultraviolet-C AlGaN laser diode with optimized p-AlN electron blocking epilayers. Optical and Quantum Electronics, 56(12), 1905.
• Shakir, S. W., Usman, M., Habib, U., Ali, S., Hidayat, W., & Anjum, I. (2024, August). Graded Waveguide Design for Improved Performance of AlGaN Based Deep Ultraviolet-C 221 nm Laser Diode. In 2024 21st International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technology (IBCAST) (pp. 460-465). IEEE.
• W. Shakir, M. Usman, U. Habib, S. Ali, “221 nm far ultraviolet-C AlGaN laser diode with optimized p-AlN electron blocking epilayers”, Optical and Quantum Electronics (2024) (doi: https://10.1007/s11082-024-07788-4) (IF = 3.3)
• Shakir, S. W., Usman, M., Habib, U., Ali, S., & Mustafa, L. (2024). High-Power and High-Efficiency 221 nm AlGaN Far Ultraviolet Laser Diodes. Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, 13(7), 076001.
• Anum; Usman, Muhammad; Habib, Usman; ali, shazma, “Optimization of III-Phosphide Light Emitting Diodes via Spacer and Electron Blocking Layers”, ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, Vol 15, 2025.
• Anum Ali, Usman, Muhammad, Usman Habib, and Shazma Ali. “Epitaxial analysis of GaInP/AlGaInP red light-emitting diodes with ternary AlGaP quantum barriers for quantum efficiency enhancement.” Physica Scripta 99.6 (2024): 0659b1.
• Anwar, N., Anjum, I., Usman, M., Habib, U., Hadi, M.U. and Ijaz, M., 2024, July. Enhanced Responsivity and Detectivity for Perovskite Based Self-Powered Photodetector for Low Power VLC Applications. In 2024 14th International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP) (pp. 159-162). IEEE.
• Saeed, S., Usman, M., Jahangir, M., Mustafa, L., Hidayat, W., Bashir, J., Anjum, I., Shakir, S.W., Habib, U. and Ali, S., 2024. Employment of thin p-AlAs to improve near-infrared laser diodes. Materials Science and Engineering: B, 302, p.117251.
• U. Habib. A.E. Aighobahi, T. Quinlan and N.J. Gomes, “Analog RoF Supported Increased RAU Spacing for 60GHz Distributed MIMO employing Spatial Diversity and Multiplexing”, IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology (IEEE Journal, I.F 4.2), Vol. 36 (19), April 2018, pp. 4354-4360.
• U. Habib, M. Steeg, A. Stohr and N.J.Gomes, “Single RoF link and RF chain based 60GHz Multi-beam Transmission”, IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology (IEEE Journal, I.F 4.2), Vol. 37 (9), Jan 2019, pp.1974-1980.
• U. Habib, B.G. Kim and Y.C.Chung, “RF-chirp phase dither for MPI mitigation in RoF-based 5G mobile fronthaul networks”, Optics Express, (OSA Journal, I.F 3.7), Vol. 28(21), Aug 2020, pp.32002-32009.
• Wang, U. Habib, Z. Yan, J. Wang, N.J. Gomes, Q. Sui, L. Zhan and C. Wang, “Highly Efficient Optical Beam Steering Using an In-Fiber Diffraction Grating for Full Duplex Indoor Optical Wireless Communication”, IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology (IEEE Journal, I.F 4.2), Vol. 36 (19), April 2018, pp. 4618-4625
• Irfan, U. Habib, F. Muhammad, F. Ali, A.S. Alwadie and W. Glowacz, “Optical-Interference Mitigation in Visible Light Communication for Intelligent Transport Systems Applications”, MDPI Energies (ISI, SCIE, IET Inspec indexed IF 2.7),, Vol. 13(19), 2020, p.5064.
• I Ahmad, S Ullah, S Ullah, U Habib, S Ahmad, A Ghaffar, “Design and Analysis of a Photonic Crystal Based Planar Antenna for THz Applications”, MDPI Electronics (IET, JCR, Scopus, SCI I.F 2.41, Vol. 10 (16), Aug 2021, pp.1941
• Ali, M. Fazal, U. Habib, M. Yusuf and M. Usman, “Modeling and Minimization of FWM Effects in DWDM based Long-Haul Optical Communication Systems”, Photonic Network Communications Journal (Springer), JCR, Scopus, SCI I.F 1.125, Vol. 39 (4), August 2020

Selected Final Year Projects:

• Design of BLDC Motor and FOC based smart controller for EVs (2024/25, In progress)
• Development of BMS for EVs based on Data-driven prediction of SoC and SoC using Machine Learning (2024/25, In progress)
• Development of battery Thermal Management System for EVs (2024/25, In progress)
• Design of Motor Controller and Optical Sensor Network for EVs (2022/23, Won Faculty’s 1st Prize at the Industrial Open House 2023). Project was done in collaboration with NIE and DICE Foundation.
• Performance Analysis of NOMA-based OFDM-Visible Light Communication System (2023/24)
• Blind Equalization of OFDM based Radio-over-fiber transmission (2023/24)

Courses Taught:

• Selected Topics in Photonics Engineering (ES698) – Graduate Course
• Advanced Optoelectronics (ES624) – Graduate Course
• Advanced Experimental Techniques (ES589) – Graduate Course
• Microelectronics Manufacturing Engineering (ES466)
• Fiber Optic Communication (ES425)
• Optoelectronics (ES474)
• Foundation of Photonics (ES323) with lab (ES323L)
• Electrical Network Analysis (EE212/ES214)
• Circuit Analysis (EE211/ES211) with lab (ES211L)
• Differential Equation and Linear Algebra (MT102)
• Calculus II (MT201)
• Calculus I  (MT101)