John E. Bowers

Biography

The pioneering efforts of John E. Bowers to advancing hybrid silicon photonics is transforming the way computers connect and how data moves around the world, improving business and consumer experiences via thin strands of fiber with silicon photonics on either end. Bowers developed a bonding process that overcomes the challenges of trying to get light out of silicon and has demonstrated high-quality photonic devices that can be manufactured at high volumes and low cost. His work on the hybrid silicon laser has made photonic integrated circuits in silicon a reality, which is critical to enabling lower-cost, higher-speed, and smaller-footprint devices to meet the bandwidth needs of Internet service providers and to create the data centers of the future.

An IEEE Fellow, Bowers is director of the Institute of Energy Efficiency, University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.