Yating Wan
Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division
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 Principal Investigator of the Integrated Photonics Laboratory at 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, 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 17 members, including five postdoctoral researchers, 11 Ph.D. students, and two M.S. students.
Wan has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including 38 first-author papers (29 journals, nine 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 on on-chip laser integration on silicon, Wan has received multiple international honors, including the 2021 CLEO Tingye Li Innovation Prize (1 awardee worldwide), the 2022 Rising Stars of Light by Light: Science & Applications (3 awardees worldwide), the 2023 MIT Technology Review “35 Innovators Under 35 – China”, the 2025 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature (3 awardees worldwide, $250,000 prize), and the 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 on-chip light sources using quantum dot (QD) lasers. Her work addresses one of the central challenges in photonic integration—realizing scalable, energy-efficient, and CMOS-compatible optoelectronic systems. By leveraging heterogeneous integration techniques, her research enables high-performance quantum dot lasers directly grown or bonded on silicon and emerging material platforms such as silicon carbide and thin-film lithium niobate. These innovations underpin transformative applications in data communications, optical computing, LiDAR, and photonic security, bridging the gap between laboratory breakthroughs and industrial-scale deployment. Through this integration of materials science, device engineering, and system-level photonic architectures, Wan’s work paves the way for next-generation AI hardware, high-speed interconnects, and secure optical technologies.
Dr. Wan has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including 29 first-author journal papers (10 as covers), 7 corresponding-author journal papers, and >20 invited talks in international conferences. With over 3,600 citations and an h-index of 32, her research has received prestigious awards, including 2016-17 HKUST PhD Research Excellence Award (2 awardees per year), 2018 PIERS Young Scientist Award, 2021 CLEO Tingye Li Innovation Prize (1 awardee per year), 2022 Rising Stars of Light by Light: Science & Applications (3 awardees per year), 2023 “35 Innovators Under 35 for China” by MIT Technology Review, 2024 Optica Ambassador), 2025 IEEE Photonics Society Young Investigator Award(1 awardee per year), and 2025 Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature (3 awardees per year, $250,000 prize) among others.
Outside of her immediate research spectrum, Dr. Wan has been a proactive contributor to the broader academic community. She is the Manager & Column Editor for Light: Science & Applications in Thuwal, Associate editor in Applied Optics, IEEE JQE, guest associate editor in IEEE JSTQE, TPC of IPC and CLEO, and Committee Member of the IEEE Photonics Society (IPS) Conference Council and SPIE Publication. She has also been a referee for a myriad of prestigious journals, spanning IEEE, OSA, and the Nature Publishing Group for more than 100 times.
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