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Attend this seminar lecture by Professor Emeritus Eli Yablonovitch from UC Berkeley EECS, where he reflects on his pioneering search for the first three-dimensional photonic bandgap. Learn about the four-year Edison-style trial-and-error process that led to the discovery of the optimal geometry using a diamond unit cell in a face-centered-cubic lattice, guided by physical intuition rather than systematic optimization. Discover how this groundbreaking work was complicated by pseudo-gaps and required deep physical insights to overcome the challenge of millions of potential design parameters in any geometrical optimization problem. Explore modern mathematical techniques for 3D geometry optimization that can efficiently optimize electromagnetic functions, with practical examples including silicon photonics couplers, optical antennas, and solar cell surface textures. Gain insights from the researcher known as the "Father of the Photonic Bandgap concept" who coined the term "Photonic Crystal" and whose geometric structure discovery is known as "Yablonovite," as he shares what he wishes he had known during his original research journey.
