Clint Schow

Clint Schow is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He leads an active research group focused on advancing optical interconnect technologies for data centers and high-performance computing systems. His work bridges electronics and photonics to develop energy-efficient, high-speed optical communication solutions.

Dr. Schow's research interests center on optoelectronic/electronic integration and co-design, photonic switching, equalization techniques for high-speed optical links, optoelectronic devices, and integrated transceiver packaging. His group pursues several key research thrusts including low-power coherent links for datacenters, cryogenic optical links for quantum applications, low-power VCSEL-based optical links, and photonic switching technologies. These research areas address fundamental challenges in scaling data center networks while reducing energy consumption.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on O-band coherent optical communication, heterogeneous integration of photonic components, energy-efficient transceiver design, and novel architectures for data center interconnects. Schow's work demonstrates how coherent detection techniques can be applied to short-reach data center links to achieve higher bandwidth density and lower power consumption compared to traditional approaches.

• Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Fellow of Optical Society (OSA)
• Senior Member IEEE

Professor Schow advises numerous PhD students working on cutting-edge optical interconnect technologies. His group receives funding from various sources to develop next-generation photonic solutions for data centers and high-performance computing environments. The Schow Group maintains strong industry connections and collaborates on projects addressing real-world challenges in optical communications infrastructure.

The research group operates state-of-the-art laboratories for photonic device characterization, optical link testing, and system-level validation of novel optical interconnect architectures. Current projects include developing cryogenic silicon photonics for quantum applications and creating all-optical switching solutions for dynamically reconfigurable data center networks.