Eli Yablonovitch

Yablonovitch is a physicist and engineer widely regarded as a founder of the field of photonic crystals — periodic optical structures that control the flow of light — a discovery central to modern photonics and telecommunications. He also formulated the 'Yablonovitch limit' for light trapping in solar cells. He was born in Austria to Polish-Jewish parents who had survived the Holocaust, and later built his career in the United States.