Kam Y. Lau

Professor Emeritus

Research Areas

• Communications & Networking (COMNET)
• Optoelectronic devices; Microwave and millimeter wave signal transport over optical fiber links

Research Centers

• Microfabrication Lab (Microlab)

Biography

Prof. Kam Y. Lau received his B.S. in Engineering & Applied Science and M.S. in Electrical Engineering, both in 1978, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering under Amnon Yariv in 1981, all from the California Institute of Technology. From 1981-1988 he served as Chief Scientist at Ortel Corporation. While at Ortel he worked on high-speed analog lasers that led to analog fiber-optic transmission systems, which in turn were adapted for commercial CATV transmission and Internet cable-modem distribution networks. After leaving Ortel, he joined the faculty of the Electrical Engineering Department at Columbia University from 1988-1990, where he was the Director of the Lightwave Communication Laboratory of the NSF Center for Telecommunications Research. He was subsequently offered a full professorship in the EECS Department at Berkeley and joined the faculty in 1990, where he remained active in research on optoelectronic devices and microwave and millimeter wave signal transport over optical fiber links until 2005, when he retired as Professor Emeritus.

Prof. Lau is the author or co-author of over 200 journal articles and conference presentations, and the author or co-author of 28 patents. He is a Fellow of the IEEE; a Fellow of the Optical Society of America; a recipient of the 1996 William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award from the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society "for significant contributions to the understanding and design of high speed semiconductor lasers;" received the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Distinguished Lecturer Award, also in 1996; and had received a NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1989.

In addition to his academic work, in 1995 Prof. Lau was the founding chairman of LGC Wireless, Inc., an in-building wireless infrastructure-equipment enterprise he started with some of his students. As of 2007, the company remains a market leader in specialized wireless coverage and capacity solutions worldwide.

Selected Publications

• L. P. Chen and K. Y. Lau, "Regime where zero-bias is the low-power solution for digitally modulated laser diodes," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 185-187, Feb. 1996.
• D. M. Cutrer and K. Y. Lau, "Ultralow power optical interconnect with zero-biased, ultralow threshold laser--How low a threshold is low enough?," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 4-6, Jan. 1995.
• K. Y. Lau, C. M. Gee, T. R. Chen, N. Bar-Chaim, and I. Ury, "Signal-induced noise in fiber-optic links using directly modulated Fabry-Perot and distributed-feedback laser diodes," IEEE J. Lightwave Technology, vol. 11, no. 7, pp. 1216-1225, July 1993.
• K. Y. Lau, "Narrow-band modulation of semiconductor lasers at millimeter wave frequencies (>100 GHz) by mode locking," IEEE J. Quantum Electronics, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 250-261, Feb. 1990.
• K. Y. Lau, P. L. Derry, and A. Yariv, "Ultimate limit in low threshold quantum well GaAlAs semiconductor lasers," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 88-90, Jan. 1988.
• Y. Arakawa, K. Vahala, A. Yariv, and K. Y. Lau, "Enhanced modulation bandwidth of GaAlAs double heterostructure lasers in high magnetic fields: Dynamic response with quantum wire effects," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 47, no. 11, pp. 1142-1144, Dec. 1985.
• K. Y. Lau and A. Yariv, "Invited Paper: Ultra-high speed semiconductor lasers," IEEE J. Quantum Electronics, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 121-138, Feb. 1985.
• K. Y. Lau, N. Bar-Chaim, I. Ury, and A. Yariv, "11-GHz direct modulation bandwidth GaAlAs window laser on semi-insulating substrate operating at room temperature," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 316-318, Aug. 1984.
• K. Y. Lau, C. Harder, and A. Yariv, "Direct modulation of semiconductor lasers at f > than 10 GHz by low-temperature operation," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 273-275, Feb. 1984.
• K. Y. Lau, N. Bar-Chaim, I. Ury, C. Harder, and A. Yariv, "Direct amplitude modulation of short-cavity GaAs lasers up to X-band frequencies," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 1-3, July 1983.