Kerry J. Vahala

Kerry Vahala is Professor of Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he holds the Ted and Ginger Jenkins Chair in Information Science and Technology. He also serves as the Executive Officer for the Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science. Vahala earned his BS and PhD degrees in Applied Physics, along with an MS in Electrical Engineering, all from Caltech.

Vahala has pioneered the development and application of high-Q optical microresonators, making seminal contributions to the demonstration of on-chip nonlinear optical oscillators and high-coherence sources. His work has driven advances in integrated systems for frequency metrology and precision measurement.

In related work, Vahala’s research group was among the first to demonstrate parametric coupling via radiation pressure between optical and mechanical modes in microresonators, introducing the term "cavity optomechanics" to describe what is now a distinct area of study. He also contributed to early demonstrations of strong-coupling cavity QED phenomena in chip-based microresonators.

Vahala is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and Fellow of both Optica and IEEE. He received the IEEE Sarnoff Medal for research on quantum-well laser dynamics, the Alexander von Humboldt award, a NASA achievement award for application of microcombs to exoplanet detection, and Optica’s Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award for the 2-photon optical clock collaboration. In 2025, he received the Charles Hard Townes Award "for pioneering contributions to the development and application of optical microresonators and nonlinear optical oscillators.”

Vahala has been recognized as an MPQ Distinguished Scholar and the MIT Hermann Anton Haus Distinguished Lecturer.