Amnon Yariv | |
|---|---|
אמנון יריב | |
 Professor Amnon Yariv at Caltech in 2010 | |
| Born | (1930-04-13)April 13, 1930 (age 95) |
| Known for | Optoelectronics |
| Awards | Harold Pender Award(1985) National Medal of Science(2009) IEEE Photonics Award(2011) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Applied physics,electrical engineering |
| Institutions | Caltech |
| Notable students | Kerry Vahala,Joyce Poon,Avraham Gover |
Amnon Yariv (Hebrew:אמנון יריב; born April 13, 1930) is anIsraeli-American professor ofapplied physics andelectrical engineering atCaltech, known for innovations inoptoelectronics. Yariv obtained his B.S., M.S. and PhD. in electrical engineering from theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1954, 1956 and 1958, respectively.[1]
In 2010, Yariv was selected as a winner of theNational Medal of Science for "scientific and engineering contributions to photonics and quantum electronics that have profoundly impacted lightwave communications and the field of optics as a whole".[2] He has also been selected to receive theIEEE Photonics Award for 2011.[3]
Yariv has been a member of theNational Academy of Sciences since 1991. In 1985 he was awarded theHarold Pender Award by theUniversity of Pennsylvania. In 1992 he was awarded theHarvey Prize by theTechnion in Haifa, Israel, for "pioneering contributions to opto-electronics, wave propagation in crystals and nonlinear and phase-conjugate optics, and his demonstration of semiconductor-based integrated optics technology leading to the development of high-speed and stable solid-state lasers".[citation needed]
His work has also been recognized by theOptical Society of America. He is a Fellow, and has received theFrederic Ives Medal andEsther Hoffman Beller Medal. In 2017, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Society.[4]
Yariv has authored several texts onoptical electronics andphotonics.[5][6] He has said that the highlight of his group's work was the invention of the semiconductordistributed feedback laser, a device widely used in theInternet'sfiber-optic communications.[2]
Amnon Yariv currently resides in Pasadena, California. He was married to Frances Yariv (deceased March 2025). He has three daughters: Danielle Yariv, Dana Yariv and Gabriela (Gavi) Yariv.
