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Profile
| Academic position | Full Professor |
|---|---|
| Research fields | Quantum Optics,Semiconductor Physics |
| Keywords | optics, photonics, microcavity, resonator, nonlinear |
| Honours and awards | 2020: Member, National Academy of Engineering 2020: OSA Paul Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award, `2-photon optical clock’ 2018: NASA Achievement Award, `Frequency combs for exo-planet detection’ 2012: Fellow, IEEE 2008: IEEE Sarnoff Award “Seminal contributions to quantum-well laser dynamics” 2007: Alexander Von Humboldt Research Award 1990: Fellow, Optical Society of America 1988: NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award 1988: ONR Young Investigator Award 1987: First recipient, Richard P. Feynman Hughes Fellowship |
Current contact address
| Country | United States of America |
|---|---|
| City | Pasadena |
| Institution | California Institute of Technology |
| Institute | Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science |
Host during sponsorship
| Prof. Dr. Theodor W. Hänsch | Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik (MPQ), Garching |
|---|---|
| Start of initial sponsorship | 01/06/2008 |
Programme(s)
| 2007 | Humboldt Research Award Programme |
|---|
Nominator's project description
| Professor Vahala is a pioneer in the field of optical micro-cavities. He has discovered a novel way of confining light for unprecedented times on a silicon chip. Using the developed monolithic microresonators, he has been able to perform for the first time many "lab-on chip" experiments including demonstration of a new class of nonlinear optical oscillators, chip-scale biochemical sensing and monolithic cavity QED experiments. In Germany, he will seek to establish synergies between optical micro-cavities and the field of Metrology and Laser spectroscopy. |