Yablonovitch Receives 2014 Rank Prize in Optoelectronics

(Originally published by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

February 11, 2014

Eli Yablonovitch of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Materials Sciences Division, and a member of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at Berkeley, has received the 2014 Rank Prize in Optoelectronics. The award recognizes his “idea that strained semiconductor lasers would have superior performance owing to reduced valence band (hole) effective mass.” Almost all semiconductor lasers use this concept, including for DVD players, for the ubiquitous red laser pointers, and for the optical communication that occurs in almost all internet mouse clicks.

Rank Prizes are awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to certain scientific fields, including optoelectronics, where an initial idea has been carried through to practical applications that have, or will, demonstrably benefit mankind. The Rank Prize Funds is a charitable organization which seeks to recognize excellence in specific fields of research and reward innovators for their dedication and outstanding contribution. The Funds have as their objectives the advancement and promotion for the public benefit of knowledge, education and learning in all or any of the following sciences: Crop husbandry, Human nutrition,
Animal nutrition and Optoelectronics. More information on the 2014 prize may be found here.