is a scientist based in Japan who is active in

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in the form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. E ...

, plasmonics, and other areas of

applied physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination of fac ...

. He is a Professor of Department of Applied Physics at

Osaka University The , abbreviated as UOsaka or , is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university in Osaka, Japan. The university traces its roots back to Edo period, Edo-era institutions Tekijuku (1838) and Kaitokudō, Kaitokudo (1724), ...

. He is also a Chief Scientist at

RIKEN is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama, Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Riken is a ...

. Kawata was the 2022 president of Optica.

Biography

Career

Kawata studied under Tatsuro Suzuki and received his bachelor's degree in 1974, his master's degree in 1976 and his doctorate from Osaka University in 1979. After his experience as a

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science The is an Independent Administrative Institution in Japan, established for the purpose of contributing to the advancement of science in all fields of the natural and social sciences and the humanities.JSPSweb page History The Japan Society f ...

post-doctoral

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

at Osaka University and as a

Research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's degree such as a master's degree or a PhD. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical Scho ...

at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, he joined the Department of Applied Physics at Osaka University as a faculty member and studied under Shigeo Minami. In 1993, he was promoted to full professor, and served as the Director of Frontier Research Center, from 2001 to 2003, and is currently the Director of the Photonics Advanced Research Center. Since 2002, Kawata is jointly at RIKEN as a Chief Scientist of the Nanophotonics Laboratory. Kawata is known for his work in

nanophotonics Nanophotonics or nano-optics is the study of the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, and of the interaction of nanometer-scale objects with light. It is a branch of optics, optical engineering, electrical engineering, and nanotechnology. I ...

(study of the interaction between

photons A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that ...

and

nanostructures A nanostructure is a structure of intermediate size between microscopic and molecular structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Ma ...

). He has contributed to the community via a number of inventions, publications, and conference organizations in fields including near-infrared spectroscopy, laser-scanning microscopy,

near-field optics Near-field optics is that branch of optics that considers configurations that depend on the passage of light to, from, through, or near an element with subwavelength features, and the coupling of that light to a second element located a subwavelen ...

plasmonics Plasmonics or nanoplasmonics refers to the generation, detection, and manipulation of signals at optical frequencies along metal-dielectric interfaces in the nanometer scale. Inspired by photonics, plasmonics follows the trend of miniaturizing op ...

, biophotonics, laser nanofabrication and signal recovery. Kawata has served as the President of the Spectroscopical Society of Japan from 2004 to 2007, President of the

Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) is a Japanese group of researchers in the field of applied physics. JSAP originated in 1932 from a voluntary forum of researchers belonging to the University of Tokyo and the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research. During World War ...

(JSAP) from 2014-2015, an Editor for Optics Communications from 2000 till present, a Program Officer of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and a joint professor at the Department of Physics at

Gakushuin University is a private university in Mejiro, Toshima, Tokyo. The Gakushūin (or "Peers School") was established during the Meiji period to educate the children of the Japanese nobility, but back then the institution had only the primary and secondary ...

. He is a fellow of Optica,

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

(IOP), the International Society for Optical Engineering (

SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...

) and the Japan Society of Applied Physics.

Awards

Kawata received one of the Medals of Honour (Japan) with purple ribbon, which is awarded by the Emperor of Japan in 2007, the Minister's Award for Science and Technology by the

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji period, Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001 ...

Japan in 2005. In 2024, he was designated a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honour which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

References

External links

Prof. Kawata's Cyber Lab
- Official Website

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070628231904/http://optsun.riken.go.jp/ Nanophotonics Laboratory & Metamaterials Laboratory, RIKENbr>Photonics Advanced Research Center Osaka UniversityOptics Communications, Elsevier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawata, Satoshi 1951 births Living people Japanese nanotechnologists Japanese physicists Osaka University alumni Academic staff of Osaka University Riken personnel Academic staff of Gakushuin University Persons of Cultural Merit Scientists from Osaka Prefecture