PRI Research Seminar Series on 3 February 2026: Application of semiconductor lasers and modulators in fiber-optic and free-space communications

_^Topic

Application of Semiconductor Lasers and Modulators in Fiber-optic and Free-space Communications

_^Abstracts

Semiconductor lasers are basic building blocks for the global information and communication infrastructure. High performance semiconductor lasers with satisfying characteristics in terms of bandwidth, power, linearity, energy consumption and small footprint are desired to support next generations of ICT. This talk summarises Prof. PANG’s recent efforts in applying novel semiconductor laser design in different spectral range supporting different applications, such as short-reach fiber-optic communications and mid-infrared free-space optical communications. Future challenges, opportunities and potential pathways forward will also be discussed.   

_^Biography

Prof. Xiaodan PANG is a Qiushi Distinguished Professor at the College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, China. He received his Ph.D. degree from DTU Fotonik, Technical University of Denmark, in 2013. He was a Post Doc at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden from 2013 to 2017, a researcher with the KTH ONLab from 2017 to 2018, and a Staff Opto Engineer at Infinera from 2018 to 2020. He was a Docent and a Senior Researcher at the Department of Applied Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden from 2020 to 2024. His research focuses on high-speed transmission technologies in free-space and optical fiber. He authored over 300 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications, including 11 postdeadline papers at OFC, ECOC, IPC, ACP, OECC and CLEO-PR. He has given over 40 keynote/invited talks at international conferences. He will serve as the General Co-Chair of OFC 2027, and was the Program Co-Chair of OFC 2025. He has served in the TPC of over 20 conferences, including OFC, GLOBECOM, OECC, ACP, and CLEO-PR. He is a Fellow of OPTICA and a senior member of IEEE.