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Yating Wan

Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division
Email icon yating.wan@kaust.edu.sa
Website icon Integrated Photonics Lab (IPL)

The Integrated Photonics Laboratory works on silicon photonics with special emphasis on the integration of on-chip light sources. Leveraging state-of-the-art nanofabrication technology and interdisciplinary cooperation, we develop photonic integrated circuits that can be applied to data communications, biosensors/bioimaging, energy harvesting, machine vision, and quantum information processing.  

Program Affiliations

Biography

Dr. Yating Wan is the Principal Investigator of the Integrated Photonics Laboratory at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Her research focuses on silicon photonics, with a particular emphasis on integrating on-chip quantum dot (QD) light sources for applications in optical communication, computing, and quantum information processing.

Before joining KAUST, Dr. Wan worked in Prof. John Bowers’ group at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2017–2022), where she led Intel’s project on heterogeneously integrated QD lasers on silicon. At KAUST, she leads a dynamic team of 20 members, including 7 postdoctoral researchers, 11 Ph.D. students, and 2 master’s students.

Dr. Wan has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including 38 first-author papers (29 journals, 9 proceedings, and 10 journal covers) and 26 corresponding-author publications (11 journals, 15 conferences). She serves as Associate Editor for IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics and Applied Optics, and as Associate Guest Editor for IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics and APL Photonics. She is also a Subcommittee Chair for CLEO 2026, a member of the IEEE Photonics Society Conference Council, and serves on the technical committees of major conferences such as CLEO and IPC. She has reviewed over 100 papers across IEEE, Optica, and Nature Publishing Group journals.

For her pioneering work in on-chip laser integration on silicon, Dr. Wan has received numerous prestigious awards, including 2021 CLEO Tingye Li Innovation Prize (1 awardee worldwide), 2022 Rising Stars of Light by Light: Science & Applications (3 awardees worldwide), 2023 “35 Innovators Under 35 for China” by MIT Technology Review,  2025 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature ($250,000 prize, 3 awardees worldwide), and 2025 IEEE Photonics Society Young Investigator Award (1 awardee worldwide)

Research Interests

Dr. Yating Wan’s research focuses on advancing integrated silicon photonics through the development of efficient, scalable, and CMOS-compatible on-chip light sources based on quantum dot (QD) lasers. Her work tackles one of the central challenges in photonic integration—realizing reliable, energy-efficient light generation directly on silicon and emerging material platforms such as silicon carbide and thin-film lithium niobate. By leveraging cutting-edge heterogeneous integration techniques, her group has demonstrated QD lasers with record-low threshold currents, ultranarrow linewidths, and remarkable temperature and feedback stability.

These high-performance QD light sources unlock the full potential of silicon photonics as a universal hardware platform that unites communication, computation, and sensing. Building on this foundation, Dr. Wan’s research explores transformative applications including photonic computing units (PCUs) for AI acceleration, ultra-efficient optical interconnects for data centers and high-performance computing, silicon photonics-integrated LiDAR for autonomous systems, and chaos-based photonic hardware for next-generation cybersecurity.

Through the seamless integration of materials science, device engineering, and system-level photonic architectures, Dr. Wan’s work bridges the gap between laboratory breakthroughs and industrial-scale deployment. Her vision is to enable an intelligent, energy-sustainable future powered by next-generation AI hardware, high-speed interconnects, and secure optical technologies built on fully integrated QD-on-silicon photonic platforms.
Keyword tag icon
on-chip light sources heterogeneous integration CMOS-compatible photonics semiconductor optoelectronics integrated photonics

Education Profile

  • Postdoctoral fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara (U.S.), 2017-2022 

  • Ph.D., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Hong Kong), 2012-2017 

  • B.S., Zhejiang University (China), 2008-2012 

Awards and Recognitions

  • Optica Senior Member, Optica, 2025 

  • Young Investigator Award (1 awardee), IEEE Photonics Society, 2025 

  • Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature (3 awardees, $250,000 prize, featured in Nature), Sony & Nature, 2025 

  • IEEE Senior Member, IEEE, 2024 

  • Optica Ambassador, Optica, 2024 

  • “35 Innovators Under 35 for China”, MIT Technology Review, 2023 

  • Rising Stars of Light (3 awardees), Light: Science & Applications (Nature journal), 2022 

  • -Best Young Scientist Award (1 awardee), Optoelectronics Global Conference (OGC), 2021 

  • Tingye Li Innovation Prize (1 awardee), Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2021 

  • Rising Stars Academic Career Award for Women in EECS, 2020 

  • Rising Stars Women in Engineering Award, Asian Deans’ Forum, 2018 

  • Young Scientist Award, Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), 2018 

  • Ph.D. Research Excellence Award (2 awardees), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), 2017

Publications

  • Google Scholar

  • Five Selected Publications at KAUST

    • Y. Wan*, W. He, L. Liao, J. Jaussi, D. Pan, J. E. Bowers, H. Rong – “Integration of silicon photonics with CMOS technology” – Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering (invited review, corresponding author).

    • B. Dong, Y. Wan*, W. W. Chow, C. Shang, A. Prokoshin, R. Koscica, H. Wang, J. E. Bowers – “Turnkey locking of quantum-dot lasers directly grown on Si” – Nature Photonics, 1–8, 2024 (corresponding author, Impact: 32.3).

    • Z. Zhou, X. Ou, Y. Fang, E. Alkhazraji, R. Xu, Y. Wan*, J. E. Bowers – “Prospects and applications of on-chip lasers” – Elight 3 (1), 1–25, 2023 (Featured by Light: Science & Applications, corresponding author, Impact: 27.2).

    • A. Prokoshin, M. Gehl, S. E. Madaras, W. W. Chow, Y. Wan* – “Ultra-narrow-linewidth hybrid-integrated self-injection locked laser at 780 nm” – Optica 11 (7), 1024–1029, 2024 (corresponding author, Impact: 8.4).

    • E. Alkhazraji, W. W. Chow, F. Grillot, J. E. Bowers, Y. Wan* – “Linewidth narrowing in self-injection-locked on-chip lasers” – Light: Science & Applications 12 (1), 162, 2023 (corresponding author, Impact: 20.26).

  • Ten Selected Publications Before Joining KAUST

    • Y. Wan, C. Xiang, J. Guo, R. Koscica, M. J. Kennedy, J. Selvidge, Z. Zhang, L. Chang, W. Xie, D. Huang, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers* – “High-speed evanescent quantum-dot lasers on Si” – Laser & Photonics Reviews 2100057, 2021 (Front cover).

    • Y. Wan, J. Norman, Y. Tong, M. J. Kennedy, W. He, J. Selvidge, C. Shang, M. Dumont, A. Malik, H. K. Tsang, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers* – “1.3 µm quantum-dot distributed feedback lasers directly grown on (001) Si” – Laser & Photonics Reviews 14 (7), 2070042, 2020 (Back cover).

    • Y. Wan, C. Shang, J. Huang, Z. Xie, A. Jain, D. Inoue, B. Chen, J. Norman, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers* – “Low-dark current 1.55 μm InAs quantum dash waveguide photodiodes” – ACS Nano 14 (3), 3519–3527, 2020.

    • Y. Wan, S. Zhang, J. Norman, M. J. Kennedy, W. He, Y. Tong, C. Shang, J. He, H. K. Tsang, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers* – “Directly modulated single-mode tunable quantum dot lasers at 1.3 µm” – Laser & Photonics Reviews 14 (3), 1900348, 2020 (Back cover).

    • Y. Wan, S. Zhang, J. Norman, M. J. Kennedy, W. He, S. Liu, C. Xiang, C. Shang, J. He, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers* – “Tunable quantum dot lasers directly grown on silicon” – Optica 6 (11), 1394–1400, 2019.

    • Y. Wan, J. Norman, Q. Li, M. J. Kennedy, D. Liang, C. Zhang, D. Huang, Z. Zhang, A. Y. Liu, A. Torres, D. Jung, A. C. Gossard, E. L. Hu, K. M. Lau, J. E. Bowers* – “1.3 µm submilliamp threshold quantum dot micro-lasers on Si” – Optica 4 (8), 940–944, 2017 (Front cover).

    • Y. Wan, D. Jung, C. Shang, N. Collins, I. Macfarlane, J. Norman, M. Dumont, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers* – “Low-threshold continuous-wave operation of electrically-pumped 1.55 μm InAs quantum dash microring lasers” – ACS Photonics 6 (2), 279–285, 2019.

    • Y. Wan, D. Inoue, D. Jung, J. Norman, C. Shang, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers* – “Directly modulated quantum dot lasers on silicon with milliamp threshold and high temperature stability” – Photonics Research 6 (8), 776–781, 2018 (Front cover).

    • Y. Wan, Q. Li, A. Y. Liu, W. W. Chow A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers, E. L. Hu, K. M. Lau*, “Sub-wavelength InAs quantum dot micro-disk lasers epitaxially grown on exact Si (001) substrates” Appl. Phys. Lett., 108 (22), 221101 (2016). (Front cover, most highly read articles in Appl. Phys. Lett 2016-2017)

    • Y. Wan, Q. Li, A. Y. Liu, A. C. Gossard, J. E. Bowers, E. L. Hu, K. M. Lau* – “Optically pumped 1.3 μm room-temperature InAs quantum-dot micro-disk lasers directly grown on (001) silicon” – Optics Letters 41 (7), 1664–1667, 2016 (Top 15 most cited articles in Optics Letters 2016–2018).

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