Dan Botez

Dan Botez
Born (1948-05-22) May 22, 1948
Bucharest, Romania
Occupationsphysicist, electrical engineer
Known forwork and research in high-power semiconductor diode lasers and high-power quantum cascade lasers

Dan Botez (born May 22, 1948, in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian-American physicist and electrical engineer known for his work and research in high-power semiconductor diode lasers and high-power quantum cascade lasers.[1] He is Philip Dunham Reed Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison[2] and co-editor of the books Diode Laser Arrays[3] and Mid-Infrared and Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers.[4] His awards include election as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1986[5] and the Optica Nick Holonyak Jr. Award in 2010.[6]

Education

He received his high school degree and baccalaureate at the Matei Basarab National College. At age 20 he won a national scholarship to the United States, where he pursued higher education in electrical engineering.[7] He earned his B.S. degree summa cum laude in 1971, followed by an M.S. in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1976, all from the University of California, Berkeley.[8]

Career

Following completion of his doctoral studies, Botez joined RCA Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey from 1977 to 1984, where he developed high-power, single-mode semiconductor diode lasers and introduced design concepts enabling record single-mode, continuous-wave (CW) and quasi-CW powers.[9] In 1979, he received an RCA Outstanding Achievement Award for co-development of high-density optical recording using diode lasers.[10] While at RCA, his work led to commercially devices and patents.[11] In 1984, he received both the Outstanding Young Engineer and Centennial Key to the Future Awards from the IEEE Photonics Society (then the Quantum Electronics and Applications Society).[8]

In addition to his academic research, Botez co-founded the companies Alfalight, Inc. and Intraband, LLC, which focused on the development and commercialization of advanced laser technologies.[2] He also co-founded the Semiconductor Laser Workshop of the IEEE Photonics Society in 1984.[12]

He then joined the TRW Research Center in Redondo Beach, California from 1986 to 1993, as Senior Staff Scientist.[7] During this time, he co-invented resonant leaky-wave coupling and led efforts that achieved watt-level coherent powers from diode lasers.[3] He was elected a Technical Fellow of TRW in 1991.[12]

In 1993, Botez joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he has served as a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and has held a Philip Dunham Reed Professorship.[2] At Wisconsin, he led research programs in diode lasers and quantum cascade lasers, achieving multiple world-record wall-plug efficiencies and output powers. He has also been involved in technology commercialization[13], including co-founding companies such as Intraband, LLC.[14]

In 1995, Botez was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa degree and a 175th Anniversary Jubilee Medal by the Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania

In 2016, he authored the “High-Power, Reliable Diode Lasers and Arrays” chapter in the OSA Century of Optics book celebrating the first hundred years of the Optical Society of America (OSA).[9]

In 2025, he retired from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.[2]

Botez’s research is on semiconductor diode lasers and quantum cascade lasers, with emphasis on high power, high efficiency, and monolithic coherent beam combining.[1]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Knisely, Sandra. "New structure could produce efficient semiconductor laser sources". Phys.org. Archived from the original on 2024-08-03. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Crowley, Allyson (2025-04-25). "ECE Professor Dan Botez retiring". College of Engineering - University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  3. 1 2 Botez, Dan; Scifres, Don R., eds. (1994). Diode Laser Arrays. Cambridge Studies in Modern Optics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511524127. ISBN 978-0-521-02255-2.
  4. ↑ Botez, Dan; Belkin, Mikhail A., eds. (2023-06-30). Mid-Infrared and Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108552066. ISBN 978-1-108-55206-6.
  5. 1 2 "IEEE Fellows 1980-1989 | IEEE Communications Society". www.comsoc.org. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  6. 1 2 "Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award | Optica". www.optica.org. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  7. 1 2 3 "WIN Seminar - Dr. Dan Botez: High-Coherent Power, Photonic-Crystal Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Lasers | Engineering | University of Waterloo". uwaterloo.ca. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  8. 1 2 3 Perugini, M.M. "Section Member Honored By IEEE" (PDF). The IEEE Newsletter.
  9. 1 2 "High-Power, Reliable Diode Lasers and Arrays" (PDF). Optica (journal).
  10. ↑ "ELECTRO-OPTICS Covering the Spectrum" (PDF). World Radio History.
  11. ↑ US4347486A, Botez, Dan, "Single filament semiconductor laser with large emitting area", issued 1982-08-31
  12. 1 2 "Dan Botez | Optica". www.optica.org. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  13. ↑ Tenenbaum, David (2015-04-13). "High-power laser spinoff proves versatility is strength". News. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  14. ↑ Daley, Jason (25 September 2024). "ECE spinoff company selected for Discovery to Product SEED grant". College of Engineering - University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  15. ↑ "IEEE International Semiconductor Laser Conference". ieeexplore.ieee.org. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
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