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Eli Yablonovitch introduced the idea of strained semiconductor lasers, which demonstrated superior performance due to a reduced valence band (hole) effective mass. His work significantly influenced human interaction with the internet and optical telecommunications, particularly through the development of strained semiconductor lasers. He is recognized as the 'Father of the Photonic BandGap' concept, having coined the term 'Photonic Crystal.' The geometrical structure experimentally realized for the Photonic bandgap is known as 'Yablonovite.' In photovoltaic research, Yablonovitch introduced the 4(n squared) light-trapping factor, known as the 'Yablonovitch Limit,' which has been key to the worldwide implementation of commercial solar panels. His mantra 'a great solar cell needs a great LED' underpins the world record for solar cells with single-junction efficiencies of 29.1%, dual-junction of 31.5%, and quadruple-junction of 38.8%. He co-founded Luxtera Inc., a leader in Silicon Photonics technology, as well as Ethertronics Inc., which shipped over 2 billion cellphone antennas. Yablonovitch has been elected to several prestigious academies and has received numerous awards for his contributions to science and technology.
University of California, Berkeley • Berkeley, CA
Served as the James & Katherine Lau Chair Emeritus in Engineering.
University of California, Los Angeles • Los Angeles, CA
Held a distinguished chair position in Electrical Engineering.
Bell Communications Research •
Distinguished Member of the Staff responsible for Solid-State Physics Research.
Exxon •
Involved in photovoltaic solar energy research.
Harvard University •
Initially worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories before becoming a professor.
The Mathematics Subject GRE is required for the Fall 2026 admissions cycle. General GRE is optional.