René-Jean Essiambre
Bell Labs Fellow
Past-President of the IEEE Photonics Society (2022-2023)

René-Jean Essiambre received his Ph.D. in Physics from Laval University, Québec City, Canada, and pursued post-doctoral studies at the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, NY. In 1997, he joined Bell Laboratories, then part of Lucent Technologies (now Nokia). Dr. Essiambre's research has spanned fiber lasers, optical fiber nonlinearity, advanced modulation formats, coherent detection, information theory applied to optical fibers, and space-division multiplexing. His current focus is on high-sensitivity quantum detection. With an extensive knowledge of fiber-optic communication systems, Dr. Essiambre has contributed to the design of numerous installed commercial systems. He has delivered over 100 invited talks, including the 2018 Physics Nobel Prize Lecture of Arthur Ashkin. His service includes chairing several conference committees for OFC, ECOC, CLEO, and IPC. He was program and general co-chair of CLEO Science & Innovation in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Dr. Essiambre's accolades include the 2005 Engineering Excellence Award from OSA and the distinction of Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (DMTS) at Bell Labs. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, OSA, Bell Labs, and the Institute of Advanced Studies of Technical University of Munich (IAS-TUM) in Germany. He also serves as an Ambassador of TUM. Dr. Essiambre recently completed his term as President of the IEEE Photonics Society for 2022 and 2023.

Speech Title: Technologies Approaching Capacity and Sensitivity Limits of Optical Communication Systems

Abstract: The advent of optical communication has enabled an unprecedented level of global connectivity. Over the past few decades, a series of optical and digital technologies have been developed and integrated into commercial communication systems to achieve this feat. Current fiber-optic communication systems operate near the practical limits of nonlinear fiber transmission, digital coherent detection, and error-correction coding. However, future optical communication systems demand even greater capacity, necessitating further innovations. This presentation will start with a brief historical overview of wired communication, focusing on how it relates to modern optical communication. We will clarify how signal power is limited in optical fibers and the application of Shannon information theory to establish limits on the rate of transmission of information over single-mode fibers. The presentation will then focus on new fiber designs for space-division multiplexing, which aim to overcome single-mode fiber capacity limits while remaining in a single fiber strand. The potential benefits of emerging optical fibers, such as the hollow-core fiber, will also be discussed. Finally, we will highlight a few optical quantum technologies based on single-photon quantum detectors and demonstrate how it can improve detection sensitivity.

Kei May Lau
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, China

Kei May Lau is a Research Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST). She received her degrees from the University of Minnesota and Rice University and served as a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst before joining HKUST in the summer of 2000. Lau is a Fellow of the IEEE, Optica (formerly OSA), and the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences. She was also a recipient of the IPRM award, IET J J Thomson medal for Electronics, Optica Nick Holonyak Jr. Award, IEEE Photonics Society Aron Kressel Award, US National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Awards for Women (FAW) Scientists and Engineers, and Hong Kong Croucher Senior Research Fellowship. She was an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices and Electron Device Letters, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Crystal Growth and Applied Physics Letters. Lau’s research work focuses on the development of monolithic integration of semiconductor devices and systems on industry-standard silicon and SOI substrates by MOCVD.