Issue 1 | 2012
Light Times News from the Optoelectronics Research Centre. In this edition we look at the innovative new programmes that ORC researchers expect will bring radical advances to healthcare technology.
FEATURE: Photonic programmes advancing healthcare | page 4 New MSc in photonic technologies | page 8 Bridging the gap between glass and silicon | page 14
In this issue Welcome to Light Times, the magazine for the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton. In this issue we examine the innovative new programmes that ORC scientists expect will bring radical advances in how health professionals access chemical and biochemical information for analysis.
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We are delighted to announce a new MSc in Photonic Technologies - a first for the ORC. Find out more on page 8. Additionally, we review the highlights and events of the past few months at the ORC and bring you up to date with our student successes, events, awards and published research. To catch up on our latest news please visit www.orc.southampton.ac.uk We welcome your feedback, so please get in touch and let us know what you would like to see in future editions of Light Times. Deanna Standen | Editor, Light Times light@orc.southampton.ac.uk
Front cover: ORC researchers aim to revolutionise healthcare technology. See our feature on page 4
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1. Advancing the frontiers of biophotonics research We look at the programmes helping to realise tools for clinical diagnostics Page 4 2. ORC student wins Marconi Young Scholar award The prestigious Marconi Society recognises ORC student Joseph Kakande’s work on all-optical signal processing Page 11
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3. Duke of York gifted with ‘Superman memory’ During his visit to the ORC, the Duke was presented with a novel and lasting gift Page 16 4. Faster lasers to map jet engines Lasers could improve our understanding of jet engine efficiency Page 17
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5. Bridging the gap between glass and silicon Amorphous chalcogenides offer new possibilities in microelectrics Page 14
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Photonics research programmes to revolutionise healthcare technology Light is used in a multitude of ways to identify molecules, detect disease and manipulate chemical and cellular processes. Novel low-cost light sources, advanced detection schemes, new materials and nanotechnologies are now enabling further rapid growth in the application of light to chemistry and medicine. Here we describe new ORC directions in devices and techniques for DNA analysis, point-of-care diagnostic systems, mid-infrared and pulsed light sources and integrated photonic devices which will advance our understanding of biochemical processes and generate advanced optical healthcare technologies.
“Photonic technologies are set to revolutionise our access to chemical and biochemical information, driven by the demand for fast, low-cost, automated chemical analysis in a multiplicity of applications from food safety, water quality, security and rapid point-of-care diagnostics.� Professor James Wilkinson
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New DNA sequencing ORC Professor New BBSRC funding research awarded awarded major funding award for epigenetic BBSRC funding for biophotonics analysis applications A new method of single molecule Dr Tracy Melvin at the Optoelectronics programme DNA sequencing is being developed Research Centre and Professor Tom by scientists at the University of Southampton with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s Strategic Tools and Resources Development Fund. The aim of the research is to create novel devices for the direct optical interrogation of single DNA strands.
Professor James Wilkinson at the Optoelectronics Research Centre has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant to realise tools for fast, low-cost point-of-care clinical diagnostics and for chemical analysis in water pollution and food safety.
Brown of Chemistry at the University of Southampton in collaboration with Professor Jeremy Baumberg of the Nanophotonics Centre, University of Cambridge have been awarded £1 million by the BBSRC to create new biophotonics and DNA technology for epigenetic analysis applications.
The £2.6 million grant will advance the Epigenetics is a term first introduced by frontiers of biophotonics research in nearThe human genome contains 3164.7 million Waddington in 1942 and this was used to to mid-infra-red devices. Commencing nucleic acid bases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, describe “the interaction of genes with their early this year, the five-year programme thymine). The DNA sequence provides environment, which bring the phenotype aims to develop mass-manufacturable information about ancestry, hereditary integrated photonics technology for chemical into being”. Today the genomes of many disease, features (such as eye, skin or hair organisms (humans, plants, invertebrates and biochemical analysis and advanced colour) and physiological ‘make-up’. and vertebrates) have been sequenced and spectroscopic techniques for biomedical many of the genes identified – but knowing Dr Tracy Melvin from the University of diagnostics. the genomic DNA sequence does not allow Southampton’s ORC explains: “In order “Photonic technologies are set to revolutionise us to predict the life, health and death of to improve our understanding of genome our access to chemical and biochemical these organisms. In order to understand sequences it is desirable to have simpler DNA information, driven by the demand for fast, how the environment affects the destiny of sequencing methods. By optically ‘reading’ low-cost, automated chemical analysis in a these organisms, we need to learn how the DNA directly, we hope to eliminate the multiplicity of applications from food safety, surroundings as well as the DNA sequence complex biochemical processes currently water quality, security and rapid point-ofplay a role. used so that genomes can be sequenced care diagnostics,” said Professor Wilkinson. much faster and more cheaply.” Although DNA is composed of four nucleic “The micro-manufacturing approaches that acid bases, adenine, guanine, cytosine and Using the new state-of-the-art fabrication have led to the ubiquitous presence of the facilities in the University’s Mountbatten mobile phone and digital camera are expected thymine, there is a ‘fifth’ nucleic acid base, building, the multidisciplinary team from the to lead to a similar widespread deployment of methyl cytosine. The methylation of cytosine occurs as a result of an enzymatic process ORC and Chemistry will fabricate nanoscale chemical and bioanalytical microsystems.” which is triggered by cues (including for structures which will be used optically to ERC Advanced Grants fund cutting-edge instance, diet, lifestyle). ‘read’ the single DNA strand sequence. research by the very best established research The Southampton and Cambridge teams will This study will provide the first step for a new leaders in Europe. The European Research develop new technologies for the detection of single molecule DNA sequencing method Council intends that projects funded by methylcytosine and unmethylated cytosine that builds upon existing expertise at the these competitive and selective grants be within sequences of single DNA molecules. University of Southampton and will involve highly ambitious, pioneering, and creative in Within the 42 month programme the collaboration with Renishaw Diagnostics, their approach. The grants support research teams plan to demonstrate the technology which is providing material and expertise. that takes risks, employing unconventional for developmental biology questions with methodologies and investigations between Professor Wolf Reik at Babraham Institute, established disciplines, and presenting the Cambridge, and plant biology questions with possibility of a major breakthrough with farProfessor Teresa Roldan-Arjona at Cordoba reaching impact. University, Spain. This year’s call drew nearly 2,300 project proposals from across the spectrum of research fields. Typically approximately 14 per cent are funded, with last year’s call funding researchers of 26 nationalities working in 18 EU countries.
Light Times | issue 2 2011
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“The construction of commercially relevant devices such as ultracompact broadband mid-infrared sources for healthcare, frequency comb generators for spectroscopy and sensing, and highly nonlinear optical couplers and switches for ultrafast telecoms applications should stimulate a fruitful collaboration with industry.� Dr Anna Peacock
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Grants for new devices for healthcare and industry
New grant for photonic technologies
New applications in healthcare and telecommunications will be made possible by two grants awarded to the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
A grant awarded to the ORC will provide a platform for the development of the next generation of cheaper, faster and greener devices.
A grant for £0.5 million awarded to a team led by Dr Anna Peacock, will combine two important and highly topical optical technologies: optical fibre tapers and semiconductor functionalised fibres. This research will lead to the development of optoelectronic devices spanning a wide range of wavelengths with the potential to impact many disciplines.
The ORC has just been awarded a £1.4 million platform grant by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the area of integrated photonics which will lead to the development of new devices including new kW-class lasers, compact on-chip amplifiers and biosensor arrays for infectious diseases. High-power lasers, the size of a fingernail for machining and laserprocessing applications, pollution sensors to monitor climate change, early threat detection security devices and fast universally accessible disease screening, will all be made possible throughout the four-year period of the grant.
“The award of this grant is very exciting as this research will be crucial for the development of our semiconductor fibre technology and its potential applications,” said Dr Peacock. “The construction of commercially relevant devices such as ultra-compact broadband, The investigating team are Professor Rob Eason, Principal mid-infrared sources for healthcare, frequency comb generators for Investigator, with co-investigators Professors James Wilkinson, Dave spectroscopy and sensing, and highly nonlinear optical couplers and Shepherd, Peter Smith and Dr Jacob Mackenzie, who are working with switches for ultrafast telecoms applications should stimulate a fruitful seven external partner organisations and each responsible for specific collaboration with industry.” areas of interest. New advances in ultrafast fibre laser technology at the ORC and a “We have been working in integrated photonics for 20 years and we grant for £0.6 million will also make it possible to demonstrate tablewill now use this technology to focus on healthcare, sensing and top mid-infrared lasers with sufficient power to efficiently ablate and telecommunications,” said Professor Eason deposit high-quality thin polymer films for numerous applications. The grant will make it possible for the ORC to carry out feasibility “In this grant we aim to demonstrate the highest power and highest studies for industry and provide a rapid response. pulse energies yet reported from an ultrafast Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO),” said Professor David Shepherd. “This power “Platform funding will enable a rapid response to the needs of industry,” scaling is made possible by new advances in ultrafast fibre laser said Professor Eason. “It will make it possible for a targeted end technology at the ORC, which will act as the pump source for these application to be designed, developed and demonstrated in a matter of OPOs. This then takes OPOs, which have previously been seen as weeks to months, compared to the more usual months to years under primarily scientific tools for laser laboratories, into a regime where current funding. Industry often needs ‘instant’ solutions to problems they could be useful for materials processing and consequently a and this grant should go a long way to meeting this need.” number of real-world applications covering photonics, electronics During the course of the grant, the investigators will develop new and medicine.” technologies which they will then test with the industrial partner organisations. The seven companies involved in the project are: – Covesion Ltd – Stratophase Ltd – Gooch and Housego – Element Six Limited – Ocean Optics – US Air Force – Defence Science and Technology Lab
Light Times | issue 2 2011
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New MSc Masters degree in Photonic Technologies
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The Optoelectronics Research Centre is proud to announce its new MSc in Photonic Technologies. The course is the first Masters programme from the ORC and offers students access to an excellent range of photonics equipment and materials technologies within our vibrant community of researchers. Professor Rob Eason, Head of the MSc in Photonic Technologies explains: “This programme creates an opportunity to study Photonic Technologies within a first-class research environment. Students studying at MSc level will have access to a wide range of cutting-edge fabrication facilities and extremely well equipped optical laboratories: they will gain exposure to both national and international industries through our Industry Showcase events. Studying for an MSc with us will give students the experience of working in a world-renowned research centre: it will give them the very best start for their future careers in research, industry or photonics companies.” This new MSc lasts one year and will be delivered within Physical and Applied Sciences at the university’s main campus at Highfield. The course will cover a wide area of photonics, including: – t aught modules –p ractical training in research techniques and modelling – 4 month project Whether students intend to gain skills and expertise that will enable them to take up a position in a key industrial sector, or to embark on further postgraduate research, they will find that our MSc course in Photonic Technologies will give them the solid intellectual foundation and hands-on practical and technical skills that they will need for a successful professional career in science, engineering and related photonics-based industry. Applicants are urged to apply soon as places are limited. For further details and a copy of our MSc handbook visit: www.orc. soton.ac.uk/mscprogramme.html
International MSc scholarships We are delighted to announce that we are offering up to ten scholarships of £3,000 to international fee status candidates who have been offered a place on the MSc in Photonic Technologies starting in September 2012. To be eligible to be considered for one of these awards, applications for the MSc should be received by 1 of June 2012. Awards will be allocated on the basis of academic merit and the winners will be announced by the 30 June 2012.
Working in our new, state-of-the-art cleanroom complex, MSc students will benefit from access to our extensive range of optical research laboratories. Light Times | issue 1 2012
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Student success Celebrating the achievements of ORC students
ions 10 success ORC graduate IONS 10, the tenth international conference organised by the International OSA (Optical Society) Network of Students, saw young scientists from around the world descend upon the University of Southampton. The three-day event, held in August at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, is the latest in the series organised by students for students working in all areas of optics and photonics. It provides a platform for early-career researchers to present their fields and encourages global networking. More than 80 delegates, who came from as far away as Mexico, India and Israel, were able to view the University’s world-class photonics facilities. As well as presenting their own research, they heard plenary talks from eminent photonics community speakers including Dr Emma Springate of the Central Laser Facility and OSA President Professor Chris Dainty.
awarded thesis prize by IOP The Institute of Physics (IOP) has awarded ORC graduate, Dr Eric Plum, their Quantum Electronics and Photonics PhD Thesis Prize for his Thesis entitled “Chirality and metamaterials.” This is the second year running that the £250 prize has been awarded to an ORC graduate, after it was awarded to Dr Nikitas Papasimakis last year. Prior to receiving this prize Eric’s thesis had been widely publicised through 47 publications including three Physical Review Letters, a book chapter and 18 conference papers linked to invited and keynote talks. The prize recognises Eric’s theoretical description and experimental realisation of novel metamaterials with optical activity, asymmetric transmission and negative refractive index, which have already attracted hundreds of citations. On receiving the prize Eric commented “I am honoured to receive the thesis award from the Institute of Physics and I would like to take the opportunity to thank Professor Nikolay Zheludev and Dr Vassili Fedotov for their guidance during my PhD.”Eric has recently been appointed as a Leverhulme Advanced Research Fellow associated with the EPSRC Centre for Photonic Metamaterials.
ORC graduates celebrate
This year’s graduation ceremony was a VIP affair with former University of Southampton Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir William Wakeham being honoured along with 8 graduands and 2 research fellows from the ORC. The reception was hosted by ORC Director, Professor David Payne, at the ORC where graduands and guests enjoyed fresh strawberries and sparkling wine before attending the Physical and Applied Sciences’ ceremony in the Turner Sims Concert Hall presided by Sir John Parker. Principal Research Fellow, Dr Sakellaris Mailis was presented with a 2011 Post Graduate Research Supervision Award in recognition of his excellence in the supervision of research students while Senior Research Fellow, Dr Peter Horak, in recognition of his innovation and high quality dedication in the field of learning and teaching, was presented with a 2011 Vice-Chancellor’s Award in Inter-professional Learning and Teaching. Congratulations to: Ananth Subramanian, Ben Snow, James GrantJacob, Kamalpreet Kaur, Lee Pearson, Mridu Kalita, Nikita Daga and Zsolt Samson.
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ORC student wins Marconi Young Scholar award A talented engineering researcher from the Optoelectronics Research Centre, has been honoured at the prestigious Marconi Society Awards in San Diego, California. PhD student Joseph Kakande, from Uganda, was selected as one of only three Marconi Young Scholars in this fourth year of the awards for his cutting-edge work in making communications even faster by using all-optical fibres. Marconi Society Chairman Emeritus Robert Lucky said that the scholars selection committee “looked for candidates who showed the potential to win the Marconi Prize – the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in communications science – at some point in the future. As a point of reference, Marconi Fellows have been at the forefront of every modern advance in telecommunications and the Internet.”
Joseph is congratulated by Robert Tach at the Marconi Society Awards
Joseph’s work focused on all-optical signal processing as the means of meeting the growth in demand for high-capacity optical communications. The current system of optical-to-electrical-tooptical conversion creates speed and power bottlenecks that cannot sustain the exponential growth in communications. “Electronics is really great for processing,” Joseph explains, “but it can only work so fast.” Newer technology aims to replicate the functionality of electronic transistors, but uses optical components – flexible pure glass fibres roughly the size of a human hair that are capable of transferring information from one end to the other over longer distances. The advantage is speed: optical techniques easily process more than 10 billion bits a second – about 10 times faster than the fastest conventional computer. Joseph’s research aims to develop novel methods for processing high spectral efficiency phase-encoded optical signals at ultra-high baud rates, using nonlinear fibre optic technologies. In essence, that means using light to control optical signals on ultra-fast time scales. His research is already published in several top journals including the Nature group, and has led to three patent filings, with more in the pipeline.
Joseph would like to work for a large corporation in its research and development department. He says: “As a child, I had a fascination with electronics and I always wanted to work at Intel.” Named Best Student at National Level in Uganda, where he was a student at St Mary’s College Kisubi, Joseph attained first-class honours in electronic engineering from the University of Hull, and is shortly to receive his PhD in optoelectronic engineering from the University of Southampton. His particular interest is in exploring how optical communications, which have revolutionised technology in the developed world, can be deployed in the Third World to empower its most deprived people. As his University co-supervisor, Optoelectronics Research Centre Deputy Director David Richardson says, “I think Joseph has all the capabilities to become a real research superstar.”
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Student success Celebrating the achievements of ORC students
Grand Prize for ORC student ORC student, Eric Numkan Fokoua, has won the coveted grand prize of the 2012 Corning Outstanding Student Paper competition at this year’s OFC Conference in Los Angeles. The award recognises student leaders in the field of optical communications: finalists are judged on innovation, research excellence and presentation skills. Selected from 362 submissions, Eric’s paper relates his research on Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM) in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibres. He explains: “In recent years, SDM has emerged as one potential solution to the predicted capacity crunch in current telecom systems. By implementing SDM in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibres, we exploit the benefits of low optical nonlinearity and potential low loss that result from light propagation in a hollowcore. One of the first steps is to fully understand the properties of these fibres and in particular the mechanisms responsible for loss. At the conference, we presented a method that accurately describes light scattering at the many air-glass surfaces within the fibre. “The Corning student paper competition at the OFC is a big deal for students working in Optical Communications and it was simply amazing to win. I am grateful to my supervisors Dr Francesco Poletti and Professor David Richardson for their support and guidance, as well as our marvellous fabrication team.”
CLEO 2012 paper success ORC students are making the grade at CLEO this year: they’ve had a 100 per cent success rate for their submissions to one of the Photonics Industry’s premier events. All 36 of the papers submitted have been accepted for presentation. Professor Michalis Zervas said: “This is a great achievement given that this year there were 176 submissions to Category 11 alone (the highest number among all the categories) and the success rate was about 40 per cent. It was a really tough competition.” Congratulations to you all, especially Ee Leong Lim, whose paper got the highest score among the ORC submissions.
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CLEO: Science & Innovations is the “classic” CLEO which for over 35 years has reported applied research results on all types of lasers, optical materials, and photonic devices. Topics include laser processing of materials, terahertz technologies, high-field and ultrafast optics, optical communications, biophotonics, optical sensing and metrology, micro- and nano-photonics and non-linear optics.
PhD students take their science to Parliament Three PhD research students at the University of Southampton attended Parliament in March to present their science to a range of politicians and a panel of expert judges, as part of SET for Britain. Priyanth Mehta, Sumiaty Ambran and Dominic Wales presented their research about nonlinear photonics in semiconductor fibres, flat optical fibre and smart sensors respectively to compete in the only national competition of its kind. The trio from the ORC were shortlisted from hundreds of applicants to appear in Parliament. Commenting on the opportunity to present his research in Parliament, Priyanth said: “SET for Britain provides me with a face-to-face opportunity to present ground breaking research to our funding bodies.” Andrew Miller MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, explained: “This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers. “These early career scientists are the architects of our future and SET for Britain is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work.” The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee run the event in collaboration with The Royal Academy of Engineering, The Institute of Physics, the Society of Biology, The Royal Society of Chemistry, the Physiological Society, the Wellcome Trust and the Society of Chemical Industry, with financial support from BP, Airbus/EADS, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, AgChem Access, Oxford Instruments, IBMS and GE Hitachi. Sumiaty concluded: “It’s great to gain recognition for our work and be given a forum to present and discuss our ideas with industry influencers.”
Priyanth Mehta at work - characterising a novel fibre
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Bridging the gap between glass and silicon The University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), in collaboration with the Universities of Surrey and Cambridge, is pioneering research that will develop functionality of new materials such as amorphous chalcogenides.
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These materials bridge the gap between glasses, such as those that form our optical fibre networks, and semiconductors, such as the silicon chip. Chalcogenides are already in use for thin-film and fibre waveguides, switching, light emission and amplification while electronic applications, such as phasechange memory, are leading the way in microelectronics. Microelectronics is a vast market; worldwide production was €873 billion in 2010, with European volume growing 23% that year. The gadget economy is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the business world, and may be one of its more important growth engines. The materials being developed in this project are already forming the basis for a new generation of electronics.
amplifiers, switches, logic gates and memory cells will be of great interest to large electronics companies.” The ORC has long established links with leading international companies including BAE Systems, Qinetiq, Ilika Technologies plc, Gooch & Housego and IBM. Industrial interest is further reinforced by the involvement of a leading international expert in the field of applications of ion implantation, Dr Jonathan England, who is Senior Technologist at Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates (VSEA), a subsidiary of Applied Materials. Jonathan is undertaking the role of project mentor, with VSEA sponsoring his time to the project.
Dr Richard Curry, University of Surrey project leader, explains: “Our work will impact Professor Dan Hewak, project leader from the on policy makers, stakeholders, research ORC, says: “We expect this project to generate councils and government - providing clear measurable results that demonstrate the considerable attention in both research and value of investment in UK-led research. industrial communities. This research will Ultimately, the development of new stimulate interest in further electrical and technologies to assist commerce, healthcare optical applications of chalcogenides on a and improved device energy efficiencies will local and international scale, particularly as provide long-term benefits to the economy we move towards commercial realisation. and society as a whole.” Many of the device goals, such as LEDs, photodiodes, photovoltaic cells, optical
Professor Stephen Elliott, University of Cambridge project leader, adds: “This combined computational and experimental project holds out the promise of delivering new functional materials, with a wide range of applications of interest to industry, and which should provide opto-electronic technologies beyond silicon.” The £1.48 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)- funded project forms an important component of the EPSRC’s Grand Challenge in Microelectronics entitled, ‘Performance Driven Design for Next Generation Chip Design’. The grant is initially awarded over two years during which the number and range of collaborations and industrial interest is expected to grow in the new chalcogenidebased optoelectronic platform.
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News in brief Latest developments - people places events
A lasting memory
UKIERI skills development programme A team of top researchers from the ORC, led by Professor David Payne, visited Kochi in December to participate in the UK-India Education Research Initiative final meeting. David, as well as chairing session one of the conference, gave a pre-dinner speech on the first evening.
HRH, Duke of York and Professor David Payne discuss growing the UK’s technology market.
His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, was presented with the so-called ‘Superman memory crystal’ from Professor David Payne, ORC Director, during his recent tour of the ORC. The nanostructured fused quartz medallion, was imprinted by a femtosecond laser with an image of the Duke. The technology enables vast quantities of five-dimensional data to be stored indefinitely. To accompany the gift, a laser-etched plaque was also presented, courtesy of ORC spin out company, SPI. “The Duke was fascinated by our start-up record and mused on the merits of inward investment versus organic growth to create the major British companies of the future. He noted the success of SPI in particular, having met them at the careers fair,” said David. Commenting on the visit, the Duke said: “I came to the university to see what they are doing and to understand the world-class research that is going on here, especially in optoelectronics in which it is a global leader.” Find out more about nanostructured glass, the technology behind the gift on page 18.
ORC reunion at OFC in Los Angeles The annual ORC Alumni party was held on the final day of the OFC conference in Los Angeles. Sponsored by PriTel Inc., the Illinois based specialists in RF and optical technologies; the party was attended by some 70 ORC staff members and alumni from around the world. It was heralded a successful and enjoyable evening by all. Dr KV Reddy, PriTel director commented: “I have always enjoyed ORC Alumni Reunions and I would like to see them continue. Therefore, I have sponsored for the past three years and plan to do it next year.
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The UKIERI team celebrate the successes of phase one of the programme
“At this event we’ve presented findings from our major collaborative project: ‘Application-Specific Microstructured Optical Fibres’ (MOFs). This fascinating variant of optical fibres, enables easy manipulation of light propagation, opening up new applications in telecommunications and beyond.” commented David. MOFs offer high nonlinearity or extremely low nonlinearity capabilities: high nonlinearity capability enables the generation of broadband and coherent supercontinuum light for applications in optical coherence tomography (OCT) used in medical diagnosis, or for use as frequency combs. Strongly wavelength sensitive, MOFs offer a new platform for design and realisation of a wealth of allfibre exotic devices. “The ORC is proud to be involved in the UKIERI programme, underpinning successful partnering and mentoring relationships between the UK and Indian ministries, institutions and sectoral experts,” David added. The UKIERI programme started in 2006 with the aim of developing opportunities for UK-India collaboration across academic research, schools and further education colleges. Among the successes of the first five years, UKIERI has: – i nvested in 182 UK-India partnerships – s upported 55 PhD scholarships and fellowships and 88 facilitation grants – g iven 393 British students the opportunity to visit and study in India – f acilitated work placements to 106 Indian graduates Find out more at: www.ukieri.org
Faster lasers to map jet engines The Optoelectronics Research Centre is developing lasers that will improve scientists’ understanding of the combustion process in jet engines and reduce emissions. The ORC is working on the £2.7 million research project called FLITES (Fibre-Laser Imaging of gas Turbine Exhaust Species). It is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, led by University of Manchester and aims to develop technology to reduce jet engine emissions. “FLITES will allow us to map different chemical species and soot in the exhaust plume of aero engines,” said Professor Johan Nilsson at the ORC. “This will create a better understanding of the combustion process in the engine and enable us to optimise it at lower cost - with the increasing interest for substitution of fossil fuels with bio-fuels in the aviation industry, this is particularly important. Currently the cost is too high and the data collected too limited for extensive evaluations of new biofuels in aero-engines.” FLITES aims to establish a world-leading capability to map several exhaust species from aeroplanes using tomographic imaging. The ORC, the University of Manchester, the University of Strathclyde, and commercial partners including Rolls-Royce, Shell, Covesion, Fianium and OptoSci, will work on the fouryear study, motivated by lower-cost engine evaluation and monitoring and reduced carbon dioxide emissions and pollution. It is expected that the research project will enhance turbinerelated research and development capacity in both academia and industry by opening up access to exhaust plume chemistry. It will underpin a new phase of low-net-carbon development that is underway in aviation, based on bio-derived fuels, and which entails extensive research in turbine engineering, turbine combustion, and fuel product formulation.
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A striking image produced by ORC researcher, Martynas Beresna has won third prize in the OSA’s 2011 After Image Photographic competition. The unexpected, beautiful diffraction pattern produced from a femtosecond laserwritten structure caught the judges attention.
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Nanostructured glass. New imaging and recording technology Researchers at the Optoelectronics Research Centre have developed new nanostructured glass optical elements, which have applications in optical manipulation and will significantly reduce the cost of medical imaging. In a paper entitled Radially polarized optical vortex converter created by femtosecond laser nanostructuring of glass, published in Applied Physics Letters, a team led by Professor Peter Kazansky at the University of Southampton’s ORC, describe how they have used nano-structures to develop new monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters. These millimetre-sized devices generate whirlpools of light that enable precise laser material processing, optical manipulation of atom-sized objects, ultrahigh resolution imaging and potentially, table-top particle accelerators. In a recent breakthrough, the research team found that the technology can be developed further for optical recording; at sufficient intensities, ultrashort laser pulses can be used to imprint tiny dots (like 3D pixels) called voxels in glass. Their previous research showed that lasers with fixed polarization produce voxels consisting of a periodic arrangement of ultra-thin (tens of nanometers) planes. By passing polarized light through such a voxel imprinted in silica glass, the researchers observed that it travels differently depending on
the polarisation orientation of the light. This form birefringence phenomenon is the basis of their new polarisation converter. The advantage of this approach over existing methods for microscopy is that it is 20 times cheaper and it is compact. “Before this we had to use a spatial light modulator based on liquid crystal which cost about £20,000” said Professor Peter Kazansky. “Instead we have just put a tiny device into the optical beam and we get the same result.” Since publication of the paper in 2011, the researchers have developed this technology further and adapted it for a five dimensional optical recording. Traditional CDs and DVDs store data on their surface in two dimensions, and holographic discs can store it in three. “We have improved the quality and fabrication time and we have developed this five dimensional memory which means that data can be stored on the glass and potentially last forever,” said Martynas Beresna, lead researcher for the project. “No one has ever done this before.” The researchers are working with the Lithuanian company Altechna to introduce this technology to the market. This work was done in the framework of EU project Femtoprint.
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Crystalline materials enable high speed electronic function in optical fibres Scientists at the University of Southampton, in collaboration with Penn State University have, for the first time, embedded the high level of performance normally associated with chip-based semiconductors into an optical fibre, creating high speed optoelectronic function.
A gigahertz bandwidth semiconductor photodetector is integrated directly inside a microstructured optical fibre, adjacent to its light guiding core. Finite element analysis in this image shows how this semiconductor device couples seamlessly with data pulses in the glass optical fibre.
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The potential applications of such optical fibres include improved telecommunications and other hybrid optical/electronic technologies. This transatlantic team will publish its findings in the journal Nature Photonics.
is a challenge. Another challenge is the alignment of pieces that are so small. An optical fibre is the width of a human hair. On top of that, there are light-guiding pathways that are built onto chips that are even smaller than the fibres by as much as 1000 times, so imagine just trying to line those two devices up. That feat is a big challenge for today’s technology.”
The team has taken a novel approach to the problems traditionally associated with embedding this technology. Rather than merge a flat chip with Dr Anna Peacock, who holds a Royal Academy a round optical fibre, they found a way to build a of Engineering Research Fellowship, added: new kind of optical fibre with its own integrated electronic component, thereby bypassing the need “The incorporation of optoelectronic device to integrate fibre-optics onto a chip. To do this, they functionality inside the optical fibre geometry is used high-pressure chemistry techniques to deposit an important technological advance for future networks. In this sense, we can start to imagine a semiconducting materials layer by layer directly scenario where the data signal never has to leave into tiny holes in optical fibres. the fibre.” “The big breakthrough here is that we don’t need the The research also has many potential nonwhole chip as part of the finished product. We have managed to build the junction - the active boundary telecommunications applications. It represents a very different approach to fabricating where all the electronic action takes place - right into the fibre,” University of Southampton Principal semiconductor junctions that the team is investigating. Research Fellow, Dr Pier Sazio said. “Moreover, while conventional chip fabrication requires Postdoctoral Researcher, Dr Noel Healy multimillion dollar clean room facilities, our concludes: “This demonstration of complex in-fibre process can be performed with simple equipment optoelectronic engineering is exciting as it has that costs much less.” the potential to be a key enabling technology in the drive for faster, lower cost, and more energy John Badding, Professor of Chemistry at Penn efficient telecommunications.” State, explains: “The integration of optical fibres and chips is difficult for many reasons. First, fibres The research was funded by the Engineering and are round and cylindrical, while chips are flat, so Physical Sciences Research Council of the United simply shaping the connection between the two Kingdom and the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Light Times | issue 1 2012
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Journal papers published from July 2011 - February 2012 “The ORC has a spectacular history of innovation our researchers publish about 200 journal papers per year and enjoy tremendous academic success” Professor David Payne
Advanced Materials M.Ren, B.Jia, J.Y.Ou, E.Plum, J.Zhang, K.F.MacDonald, A.E.Nikolaenko, J.Xu, M.Gu, N.I.Zheludev Nanostructured plasmonic medium for terahertz bandwidth all-optical switching Advanced Materials 2011 Vol.23 pp.5540-5544 Online Applied Physics Letters M.Beresna, M.Gecevicius, P.G.Kazansky, T.Gertus Radially polarized optical vortex converter created by femtosecond laser nanostructuring of glass Applied Physics Letters 2011 Vol.98(20) pp.201101 N.Vukovic, N.Healy, P.Horak, J.R.Sparks, P.J.A.Sazio, J.V.Badding, A.C.Peacock Ultra-smooth microcylindrical resonators fabricated from the silicon optical fiber platform Applied Physics Letters 2011 Vol.99 pp.031117 M.Ding, P.Wang, T.Lee, G.Brambilla A microfiber cavity with minimal-volume confinement Applied Physics Letters 2011 Vol.99 pp.051105 S.A.Berry, J.C.Gates, W.S.Brocklesby Determination of spatio-spectral properties of individual modes within multimode waveguides using spectrally resolved near-field scanning optical microscopy Applied Physics Letters 2011 Vol.99 pp.141107 N.I.Zheludev, E.Plum, V.A.Fedotov Metamaterial polarization spectral filter: isolated transmission line at any prescribed wavelength Applied Physics Letters 2011 Vol.99 pp.171915 H.M.K.Wong, M.Righini, J.C.Gates, P.G.R.Smith, V.Pruneri, R.Quidant On-a-chip surface plasmon tweezers Applied Physics Letters 2011 Vol.99(6) pp.061107 M.Ding, G.S.Murugan, G.Brambilla, M.N.Zervas Whispering gallery mode selection in optical bottle microresonators Applied Physics Letters 2012 Vol.100 pp.081108 Applied Surface Science R.W.Eason, M.Nistor, J.Perriere, J.Solis, I.Zergioti Laser processing and diagnostics for micro and nano applications Applied Surface Science 2011 Vol.257(12) pp.5125-5126 Comptes Rendus Physique E.Desurvire, C.Kazmierski, F.Lelarge, X.Marcadet, A.Scavennec, F.A.Kish, D.F.Welch, R.Nagarajan, C.H.Joyner,
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R.P.Schneider Jr., S.W.Corzine, M.Kato, P.W.Evans, M.Ziari, A.G.Dentai, J.L.Pleumeekers, R.Muthiah, S.Bigo, M.Nakazawa, D.J.Richardson, F.Poletti, M.N.Petrovich, S.U.Alam, W.H.Loh, D.N.Payne Science and technology challenges in XXIst century optical communications Comptes Rendus Physique 2011 Vol.12(4) pp.387-416 Special issue for the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser European Physical Journal D A.Xuereb, P.Domokos, P.Horak, T.Freegarde Cavity cooling of atoms: within and without a cavity European Physical Journal D 2011 Vol.65 pp.273-278 IEEE Communications Magazine T.Morioka, Y.Awaji, R.Ryf, P.Winzer, D.J.Richardson, F.Poletti Enhancing optical communications with brand new fibers IEEE Communications Magazine 2012 Vol.50(2) pp.s31-s42 IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics F.R.M.Adikan, S.Sandoghchi, W.Chong, R.Simpson, M.Mahdi, A.Webb, J.C.Gates, C.Holmes Direct UV written optical waveguides in flexible glass flat fiber chips IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics 2011 Vol.(99) IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics R.Slavík, A.Bogris, F.Parmigiani, J.Kakande, M.Westlund, M.Sköld, L.Grüner-Nielsen, R.Phelan, D.Syvridis, P.Petropoulos, D.J.Richardson Coherent all-optical phase and amplitude regenerator of binary phaseencoded signals IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics 2012 Vol.18 pp.859-896 IEEE Photonics Journal C.Holmes, K.R.Daly, I.J.G.Sparrow, J.C.Gates, G.D’Alessandro, P.G.R.Smith Excitation of surface plasmons using tilted planar-waveguide Bragg gratings IEEE Photonics Journal 2011 Vol.3(5) pp.777-788 J.Feng, M.Ding, J.-L.Kou, F.Xu, Y.Q.Lu An optical fiber tip micrograting thermometer, IEEE Photonics Journal 2011 Vol.3(5) pp.810-814 K.R.Daly, C.Holmes, J.C.Gates, P.G.R.Smith, G.D’Alessandro Complete mode structure analysis of tilted Bragg grating refractometers in planar waveguides toward absolute index measurement IEEE Photonics Journal 2011 Vol.3(5) pp.861-871
International Journal of Optics J.Azaña, L.K.Oxenløwe, E.Palushani, R.Slavík, M.Galili, H.C.H.Mulvad, H.Hu, Y.Park, A.T.Clausen, P.Jeppesen In-fiber subpicosecond pulse shaping for nonlinear optical telecommunication data processing at 640 Gbit/s International Journal of Optics 2012 pp.895281 Journal of Lightwave Technology J.R.Sparks, J.L.Esbenshade, R.He, N.Healy, T.D.Day, D.W.Keefer, P.J.A.Sazio, A.C.Peacock, J.V.Badding Selective semiconductor filling of microstructured optical fibers Journal of Lightwave Technology 2011 Vol.29(13) pp.2005-2008 M.Pal, M.C.Paul, S.K.Bhadra, S.Das, S.Yoo, M.P.Kalita, A.J.Boyland, J.K.Sahu Study of multichannel amplification in erbium-doped zirconia-yttriaalumino-silicate fiber Journal of Lightwave Technology 2011 Vol.29(14) pp.2110-2115 J.D.Shi, X.Feng, P.Horak, K.K.Chen, P.S.Teh, S.-U.Alam, W.H.Loh, D.J.R.Richardson, M.Ibsen 1.06 µm picosecond pulsed, normal dispersion pumping for generating efficient broadband infrared supercontinuum in meter-length single-mode tellurite holey fiber with high Raman gain coefficient Journal of Lightwave Technology 2011 Vol.29(22) pp.3461-3469
Journal of Non-crystalline Solids C.Rodenburg, X.Liu, M.A.E.Jepson, S.A.Boden, G.Brambilla Surface morphology of silica nanowires at the nanometer scale Journal of Non-crystalline Solids 2011 Vol.357 (15) pp.3042-3045 Journal of Optical Communications and Networking R.Bonk, P.Vorreau, D.Hillerkuss, W.Freude, G.Zarris, D.Simeonidou, F.Parmigiani, P.Petropoulos, R.Weerasuriya, S.Ibraham, A.D.Ellis, D.Klondis, I.Tomkos, J.Leuthold An all-optical grooming switch for interconnecting access and metro ring networks Journal of Optical Communications and Networking 2011 Vol.3 pp.206-214 (Invited) Journal of Optics E.Plum, V.A.Fedotov, N.I.Zheludev Asymmetric transmission: a generic property of two-dimensional periodic patterns Journal of Optics 2011 Vol.13(2) pp.024006 Journal of the American Chemical Society N.F.Baril, R.He, T.D.Day, J.R.Sparks, B.Keshavarzi, M.Krishnamurthi, A.Borhan, V.Gopalan, A.C.Peacock, N.Healy, P.J.A.Sazio, J.V.Badding Confined high-pressure chemical deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) 2011 Vol.134(1) pp.19-22
M.Belal, T.P.Newson Experimental examination of the variation of spontaneous Brillouin power and frequency coefficients under the combined influence of temperature and Journal of the Optical Society of America B strain P.Wang, G.Brambilla, M.Ding, Y.Semenova, Q.Wu, G.Farrell Journal of Lightwave Technology 2012 Vol.(99) Investigation of single-mode-multimode-single-mode and single-modeR.Slavík, A.Bogris, J.Kakande, F.Parmigiani, L.Grüner-Nielsen, tapered-multimode-single-mode fiber structures and their applications for R.Phelan, J.Vojtech, P.Petropoulos, D.Syvridis, D.J.Richardson refractive index sensing Field-trial of an all-optical PSK regenerator/multicaster in a 40 Gbit/s, 38 Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B) 2011 Vol.28(5) channel DWDM transmission experiment pp.1180-1186 Journal of Lightwave Technology 2012 Vol.30(4) pp.512-520 N.Vukovic, N.Healy, A.C.Peacock Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering Guiding properties of large mode area silicon microstructured fibers: a C.Holmes, L.G.Carpenter, J.C.Gates, P.G.R.Smith route to effective single mode operation Miniaturisation of Bragg-multiplexed membrane transducers Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B) 2011 Vol.28(6) Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering 2012 Vol.22 pp.1529-1533 pp.025017 F.Kienle, D.Lin, H.S.S.Hung, C.B.E.Gawith, H.E.Major, Journal of Modern Optics D.J.Richardson, D.P.Shepherd A.Xuereb, P.Horak, T.Freegarde Green-pumped picosecond MgO:PPLN optical parametric oscillator Amplified optomechanics in a unidirectional ring cavity Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B) 2012 Vol.29(1) pp.144-152 Journal of Modern Optics 2011 Vol.58(15) pp.1342-1348 Light Times | issue 1 2012
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Laser and Photonic Reviews C.Y.J.Ying, A.C.Muir, C.E.Valdivia, H.Steigerwald, C.L.Sones, R.W.Eason, E.Soergel, S.Mailis Light-mediated ferroelectric domain engineering and micro-structuring of lithium niobate crystals Laser and Photonic Reviews 2011 (Invited) Laser Physics S.P.Ng, J.I.Mackenzie Power and radiance scaling of a 946 nm Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser Laser Physics 2012 Vol.22(3) pp.494-498 Materials World D.W.Hewak, V.M.Leonard, G.S.Murugan Ions shine on - uses of rare earth ions Materials World 2012 Vol.20(1) pp.27-29 Nature Photonics J.Kakande, R.Slavík, F.Parmigiani, A.Bogris, D.Syvridis, L.Grüner-Nielsen, R.Phelan, P.Petropoulos, D.J.Richardson Multilevel quantization of optical phase in a novel coherent parametric mixer architecture Nature Photonics 2011 Vol.5 pp.748 - 752 D.Hillerkuss, R.Schmogrow, T.Schellinger, M.Jordan, M.Winter, G.Huber, T.Vallaitis, R.Bonk, P.Kleinow, F.Frey, M.Roeger, S.Koenig, A.Ludwig, A.Marculescu, J.Li, M.Hoh, M.Dreschmann, J.Meyer, S.Ben Ezra, N.Narkiss, B.Nebendahl, F.Parmigiani, P.Petropoulos, B.Resan, A.Oehler, K.Weingarten, T.Ellermeyer, J.Lutz, M.Moeller, M.Huebner, J.Becker, C.Koos, W.Freude, J.Leuthold 26 Tbit/s line-rate super-channel transmission utilizing all-optical fast Fourier transform processing Nature Photonics 2011 Vol.5(6) pp.364-371 D.W.Hewak The promise of chalcogenides Nature Photonics 2011 Vol.5(8) pp.474 (Invited) R.He, P.J.A.Sazio, A.C.Peacock, N.Healy, J.R.Sparks, M.Krishnamurthi, V.Gopalan, J.V.Badding Integration of gigahertz-bandwidth semiconductor devices inside microstructured optical fibres Nature Photonics 2012 Vol.6 pp.174–179 (Letter) Optical Materials Express M.Lancry, B.Poumellec, A.Chahid-Erraji, M.Beresna, P.G.Kazansky Dependence of the femtosecond laser refractive index change thresholds on the chemical composition of doped-silica glasses Optical Materials Express 2011 Vol.1(4) pp.711-723 M.Beresna, M.Gecevicius, P.G.Kazansky Polarization sensitive elements fabricated by femtosecond laser nanostructuring of glass Optical Materials Express 2011 Vol.1(4) pp.783-795 (Invited) W.Bolaños, J.J.Carvajal, X.Mateos, G.Lifante, G.S.Murugan, J.S.Wilkinson, M.Aguiló, F.Díaz Analysis of confinement effects on microstructured Ln3+:KY1-xyGdxLuy(WO4)2 waveguides Optical Materials Express 2011 Vol.1(3) pp.306-315 Optical Materials M.A.Hughes, R.J.Curry, D.W.Hewak Determination of the oxidation state and co-ordination of a vanadium doped chalcogenide glass Optical Materials 2011 Vol.33(3) pp.315-322 C.I.Oppo, R.Corpino, P.C.Ricci, M.C.Paul, S.Das, M.Pal, S.K.Bhadra, S.Yoo, M.P.Kalita, A.J.Boyland, J.K.Sahu, P.Ghigna, F.d’Acapito
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Incorporation of Yb3+ ions in multicomponent phase-separated fibre glass preforms Optical Materials 2012 Vol.34(4) pp.660-664 Optics & Laser Technology S.W.Harun, M.C.Paul, N.A.D.Huri, A.Hamzah, S.Das, M.Pal, S.K.Bhadra, H.Ahmad, S.Yoo, M.P.Kalita, A.J.Boyland, J.K.Sahu Double-pass erbium-doped zirconia fiber amplifier for wide-band and flatgain operations Optics & Laser Technology 2011 Vol.43 pp.1279-1281 Optics Communications A.Z.Subramanian, G.S.Murugan, M.N.Zervas, J.S.Wilkinson High index contrast Er:Ta2O5 waveguide amplifier on oxidised silicon Optics Communications 2011 Vol.285 pp.124-127 Optics Express M.Beresna, M.Gecevicius, N.M.Bulgakova, P.G.Kazansky Twisting light with micro-spheres produced by ultrashort light pulses Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(20) pp.18989-18996 P.G.Kazansky, Y.Shimotsuma, M.Sakakura, M.Beresna, M.Gecevicius, Y.Svirko, S.Akturk, J.Qiu, K.Miura, K.Hirao Photosensitivity control of an isotropic medium through polarization of light pulses with tilted intensity front Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(21) pp.20657-20664 N.Healy, J.R.Sparks, R.R.He, P.J.A.Sazio, J.V.Badding, A.C.Peacock High index contrast semiconductor ARROW and hybrid ARROW fibers Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(11) pp.10979-10985 S.Liu, K.J.Lee, F.Parmigiani, J.Kakande, K.Gallo, P.Petropoulos, D.J.Richardson Phase-regenerative wavelength conversion in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(12) pp.11705-11715 J.M.O.Daniel, J.S.P.Chan, J.W.Kim, J.K.Sahu, M.Ibsen, W.A.Clarkson Novel technique for mode selection in a multimode fiber laser Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(13) pp.12434-12439 P.Horak, W.Stewart, W.H.Loh Continuously tunable optical buffer with a dual silicon waveguide design Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(13) pp.12456-12461 C.Holmes, L.G.Carpenter, H.L.Rogers, I.J.G.Sparrow, J.C.Gates, P.G.R.Smith Planar waveguide tilted Bragg grating refractometer fabricated through physical micromachining and direct UV writing Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(13) pp.12462-12468 J.W.Kim, J.I.Mackenzie, J.R.Hayes, W.A.Clarkson High power Er:YAG laser with radially-polarized Laguerre-Gaussian (LG01) mode output Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(15) pp.14526-14531 M.Ding, M.N.Zervas, G.Brambilla A compact broadband microfiber Bragg grating Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(16) pp.15621-15626 O.Deparis, M.Beresna, C.Vandenbem, P.G.Kazansky Light coupling and enhanced backscattering in layered plasmonic nanocomposites Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(2) pp.1335-1343 P.Mehta, N.Healy, T.D.Day, J.R.Sparks, P.J.A.Sazio, J.V.Badding, A.C.Peacock All-optical modulation using two-photon absorption in silicon core optical fibers Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(20) pp.19078-19083
G.S.Murugan, M.N.Petrovich, Y.Jung, J.S.Wilkinson, M.N.Zervas Hollow-bottle optical microresonators Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(21) pp.20773-20784
D.Lin, S.U.Alam, P.S.Teh, K.K.Chen, D.J.Richardson Tunable synchronously-pumped fiber Raman laser in the visible and near-infrared exploiting MOPA-generated rectangular pump pulses Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(11) pp.2050-2052
S.Ghosh, S.Dasgupta, R.K.Varshney, D.J.Richardson, B.P.Pal Design of a Bragg fiber with large mode area for mid-infrared applications Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(22) pp.21295-21304
P.Wang, G.Brambilla, M.Ding, Y.Semenova, Q.Wu, G.Farrell High-sensitivity, evanescent field refractometric sensor based on a tapered, multimode fiber interference Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(12) pp.2233-2235
N.Amaya, M.Irfan, G.Zervas, K.Banias, M.Garrich, I.Henning, D.Simeonidou, Y.R.Zhou, A.Lord, K.Smith, V.J.F.Rancano, S.Liu, P.Petropoulos, D.J.Richardson Gridless optical networking field trial: flexible spectrum switching defragmentation and transport of 10G/40G/100G/555G over 620-km field fiber Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(26) pp.B277-B282 Y.Jung, S.Alam, Z.Li, A.Dhar, D.Giles, I.P.Giles, J.K.Sahu, F.Poletti, L.Grüner-Nielsen, D.J.Richardson First demonstration and detailed characterisation of a multimode amplifier for space division multiplexed transmission systems Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(26) pp.B952-B957 R.Slavík, J.Kakande, D.J.Richardson Feed-forward true carrier extraction of high band rate phase shift keyed signals using photonic modulation stripping and low-bandwidth electronics Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(27) pp.26594-26599 K.J.Lee, S.Liu, K.Gallo, P.Petropoulos, D.J.Richardson Analysis of acceptable spectral windows of quadratic cascaded nonlinear processes in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide Optics Express 2011 Vol.19(9) pp.8327-8335 G.Lepert, M.Trupke, E.A.Hinds, H.Rogers, J.C.Gates, P.G.R.Smith Demonstration of UV-written waveguides, Bragg gratings and cavities at 780 nm, and an original experimental measurement of group delay Optics Express 2011 Vol.199(25) pp.24933-24943 M.Ding, P.Wang, G.Brambilla A microfiber coupler tip thermometer Optics Express 2012 Vol.20(5) pp.5402-5408 M.A.Ettabib, L.Jones, J.Kakande, R.Slavík, F.Parmigiani, X.Feng, F.Poletti, G.M.Ponzo, J.D.Shi, M.N.Petrovich, W.H.Loh, P.Petropoulos, D.J.Richardson Phase sensitive amplification in a highly nonlinear lead-silicate fiber Optics Express 2012 Vol.20(2) pp.1629-1634 Y.-W.Huang, W.T.Chen, P.C.Wu, V.Fedotov, V.Savinov, Y.Z.Ho, Y.-F.Chau, N.I.Zheludev, D.P.Tsai Design of plasmonic toroidal metamaterials at optical frequencies Optics Express 2012 Vol.20(2) pp.1760-1768 M.Krishnamurthi, J.R.Sparks, R.He, L.A.Temnykh, N.F.Baril, Z.Liu, P.J.A.Sazio, J.V.Badding, V.Gopalan Array of tapered semiconductor waveguides in a fiber for infrared image transfer and magnification Optics Express 2012 Vol.20(4) pp.4168-4175 J.D.Shi, S.-U.Alam, M.Ibsen Highly efficient Raman distributed feedback fibre lasers Optics Express 2012 Vol.20(5) pp.5082-5091 Optics Letters J.Zhang, J.-Y.Ou, N.Papasimakis, Y.Chen, K.F.MacDonald, N.I.Zheludev Continuous metal plasmonic frequency selective surfaces Optics Letters 2011 Vol.19(23) pp.23279-23285
N.Healy, L.Lagonigro, J.R.Sparks, S.Boden, P.J.A.Sazio, J.V.Badding, A.C.Peacock Polycrystalline silicon optical fibers with atomically smooth surfaces Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(13) pp.2480-2482 T.Lee, N.G.Broderick, G.Brambilla Berry phase magnification in optical microcoil resonators Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(15) pp.2839-2841 H.C.Hunt, J.S.Wilkinson Multimode interference devices for focusing in microfluidic channels Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(16) pp.3067-3069 L. Xiao, T.A.Birks Optofluidic microchannels in aerogel Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(16) pp.3275-3277 G.Y.Chen, X.L.Zhang, G.Brambilla, T.P.Newson Theoretical and experimental demonstrations of a microfiber-based flexural disc accelerometer Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(18) pp.3669-3671 L.Xiao, T.A.Birks, W.H.Loh Hydrophobic photonic crystal fibers Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(23) pp.4662-4664 M.Belal, T.P.Newson A 5cm spatial resolution temperature compensated distributed strain sensor evaluated using a temperature controlled strain rig Optics Letters 2011 Vol.36(24) pp.4728-4730 P.Wang, T.Lee, M.Ding, A.Dhar, T.Hawkins, P.Foy, Y.Semenova, Q.Wu, J.K.Sahu, G.Farrell, J.Ballato, G.Brambilla Germanium microsphere high-Q-resonator Optics Letters 2012 Vol.37(4) pp.728-730 X.Zhang, M.Belal, G.Y.Chen, Z.Song, G.Brambilla, T.P.Newson Compact optical microfiber phase modulator Optics Letters 2012 Vol.37(3) pp.320-322 Optics Materials W.Bolaños, J.J.Carvajal, X.Mateos, G.S.Murugan, A.Subramanian, J.S.Wilkinson, E.Cantelar, G.Lifante, M.Aguiló, F.Díaz KY0.58Gd0.22Lu0.17Tm0.03(WO4)2 buried rib waveguide lasers Optics Materials 2011 Vol.34(2) pp.475-480 Physics Review A T.Gerrits, N.Thomas-Peter, J.C.Gates, A.E.Lita, B.J.Metcalf, B.Calkins, N.A.Tomlin, A.E.Fox, A.L.Linares, J.B.Spring, N.K.Langford, R.P.Mirin, P.G.R.Smith, I.A.Walmsley, S.Woo Nam On-chip photon-number-resolving telecommunication-band detectors for scalable photonic information processing Physics Review A 2011 Vol.84(6) pp.060301(R) Progress in Quantum Electronics C.Grivas Optically pumped planar waveguide lasers, Part I: Fundamentals and fabrication techniques Progress in Quantum Electronics 2011 Vol.35(6) pp.159?239 (Invited) Science J.N.Nilsson, D.N.Payne High-power fiber lasers Science 2011 Vol.332(6032) pp.921-922 Light Times | issue 1 2012
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Dr Eric Plum (Photographer Andy Vowels)
“Our world-leading research teams are shaping the future, working with a wide range of industries to develop new technologies for communication, healthcare, transport, energy and the environment.�
Work with us There is a long history of discovery and innovation at the ORC and we are well aware that collaborations with other organisations have been fundamental to our success. We are always open to new and interesting collaborations where a combination of expertise is mutually beneficial. If you are part of an academic or industrial research organisation with a national or international reputation, then we would be very interested in hearing from you. The areas that we are currently working on can be fully explored through the research section of our website. However, we are also interested in exploring new areas, and not all of our most recent directions will have made it onto our website. If you are interested in joining the vibrant and friendly team at the ORC please contact us at light@orc.southampton.ac.uk
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PhD student Helen Rogers (Photographer Andy Vowels)
Study with us
The Mountbatten building (Photographer Andy Vowels)
About the ORC
Photonics has helped to change the world in extraordinary ways; powering the internet, navigating airliners, correcting vision and protecting the environment.
The Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton is one of the largest university-based research groups entirely devoted to optoelectronics in the world and has maintained a position at the Our world-leading research teams are shaping forefront of photonics research for over the future, working with a wide range of four decades. industries to develop new technologies for communications, healthcare, transport Its long and well-established track record in and energy. the fields of optical fibres, lasers, waveguides, devices and optoelectronic materials has We are looking for the photonics pioneers fostered innovation, enterprise, crossof the future to join our vibrant research boundary and multi-disciplinary activities. community. Our postgraduate students are an integral and vital part of the research Please visit our website for more news, staff at the ORC. Some of the world’s leading technological breakthroughs, research scientists are based at the ORC and as a PhD updates and people profiles student, or as a new MSc student, you’ll have www.orc.southampton.ac.uk the opportunity to work with them in our For further information and enquiries please state-of-the-art facilities and make some email light@orc.southampton.ac.uk history. For further details please visit: www.orc.southampton.ac.uk/ phdprogram.html www.orc.southampton.ac.uk/ mscprogramme.html
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