Honoree is an innovator in the field of photonic integrated circuits and their applications
WASHINGTON-The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to name Daniel J. Blumenthal, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), USA, the 2020 C.E.K. Mees Medal recipient. Blumenthal is honored for innovation in ultra-low loss photonic integrated circuits and their application to ultra-low linewidth lasers, optical communications, signal processing, optical gyroscopes and atom cooling.
"Daniel Blumenthal is an excellent choice for the C.E.K. Mees Medal," said 2020 OSA President Stephen D. Fantone, founder and president of the Optikos Corporation. "He is an innovator who continues to push boundaries in the use of electronic and photonic materials."
Daniel Blumenthal received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, M.S.E.E. from Columbia University, USA and B.S.E.E from the University of Rochester, USA. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCSB, Director of the Terabit Optical Ethernet Center, and heads the Optical Communications and Photonics Integration group. He is Co-Founder of Packet Photonics Inc. and Calient Networks, both in USA. He holds 23 patents and has published over 460 papers in the areas of optical communications and optical packet switching, ultra-narrow linewidth integrated lasers, optical gyro sensors, ultra-low loss photonic integrated circuits, integrated atom cooling photonics, nano-photonics and microwave photonics. He is co-author of Tunable Laser Diodes and Related Optical Sources. Blumenthal is a 2017 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and a Fellow of OSA and the IEEE. He is recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award.
He has pioneered ultra-low loss silicon nitride and tantala waveguides, photonic integrated circuits and their applications. His work includes integrated ultra-narrow sub-Hz linewidth SBS lasers, highly integrated indium phosphide photonic circuits, fiber optic communications and optical packet switching, optical gyroscopes, microwave photonics, optical signal processing and ultra-fast techniques, and extending photonic integrated technologies into the visible wavelength range for applications including atom cooling, time keeping, and Raman spectroscopy.
Established in 1961, the C.E.K. Mees Medal recognizes an original use of optics across multiple fields. It honors the memory of Mees who contributed preeminently to the development of scientific photography, and was a charter member of OSA. The medal was endowed by the Mees family.
