TRANSFORMING OUR FUTURE: Photonics for smart manufacturing

TRANSFORMING OUR FUTURE PHOTONICS FOR SMART MANUFACTURING

New ‘smart’ high-power lasers, optical fibres and beam shaping techniques under development at the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre will help harness the power of intelligent, data-driven, and resource-efficient manufacturing processes to drive UK economic growth.

Realising the concept of the smart factory is fast becoming a defining ambition of the current age.

The aim is to deliver a step change in industrial productivity, through greater flexibility, connectivity. Artificial Intelligence and speed.

At the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) in Southampton, and through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)-funded Future Photonics Manufacturing Hub, we are developing many of the technologies that will induce this ‘smart’ transformation: optical fibres for ultra-highspeed, reliable data communications: high power fibre lasers for precise, efficient materials processing: sensors for Artificial Intelligence: and even dynamic optical systems.

High speed data communications One of our key technologies is hollow-core (HC), or ‘holey’ fibre. Rather than transmitting light through solid glass, HC fibres replace the typical glass core with air to form hollow ‘light pipes’ which significantly reduce lightmatter interactions. As a result, HC fibre has the potential to achieve the sort of low latency and optical losses required to make the ‘tactile’ internet a reality, facilitating real-time wireless human control of real and virtual objects.

This will impact on both fibre laser functionality and data communications in future factories, enabling for example, lasers to deliver an unprecedented amount of power to machine a remote workpiece, with feedback and control provided in real-time by extremely low latency optical network connectivity on the petabit-persecond scale.

Thanks to recent progress made under our EPSRC programme grant ‘Airguide’, we can now produce advanced HC fibres in lengths exceeding tens of kilometres with excellent uniformity and minimal light-glass interaction.

Improvements in fabricating our nextgeneration fibres means that they can now be developed for applications in manufacturing and industry more widely, in high-speed internet and even medical imaging.

Contact: Professor David Richardson D.J.Richardson@southampton.ac.uk

Hollow core fibre preform developed at the Optoelectronics Research Centre.

High power materials processing

High precision beam technology

Having already achieved ways to double the typical output of a fibre laser, we are now working on controlling laser output to an unprecedented degree. We are developing hybrid platforms for miniaturised, efficient, low-cost, agile and reconfigurable smart laser systems with software-driven performance.

In our pursuit of ever smarter technologies, we are now exploring combining the precision manufacturing capability of femtosecond lasers with the high-speed control of beam-shape.

This high-speed, high-precision and highlycustomisable beam shaping technology has the potential to unlock a revolution in laser processing.

Underpinned by stable and robust, all-solid state guided-wave technology, our ‘smart’ lasers promise a fully controlled output which understands and adapts to changes in the material, its shape, reflectivity, thickness and orientation, as well as knowing how the process is developing and when it’s finished.

This will lead to new tools that enable innovative processes critical to increasing competitiveness in important manufacturing sectors, based on underlying advanced laser technologies with wider applications in the sensing, healthcare and medical sectors.

Contact: Professor Michalis Zervas M.N.Zervas@southampton.ac.uk

Using Digital Micromirror Devices (DMDs) developed by Texas Instruments, we have developed a laser system capable of switching to any desired beam shape, and self-corrects for example, to work around a speck of dust in the processing zone. This intelligent laser processing can be used to process almost any material.

We hope to eventually fabricate 3D structures at resolutions of just a few hundred nanometres, and are exploring using a range of additive and subtractive laser-based processes.

Contact: Dr Ben Mills B.Mills@southampton.ac.uk

Transformative photonics solutions The increasing convergence of light-based technologies applied in materials processing and communications hardware is creating transformational solutions that can be applied across the manufacturing sector and beyond, driving productivity and accelerating future industries.

“Progress conceived for one application, for example laser manufacturing, will be rapidly re-deployed across a whole host of grand challenges - from Artificial Intelligence and data, to clean growth and autonomous mobility. It is clear that lasers and photonics will be pivotal to delivering these solutions.

“The next big challenge in photonics is how we make everything more functional, easier to produce and more efficient, which will help the UK maintain its status as a leading innovator within a highly- competitive global market.”

Professor Sir David Payne, Director, The Optoelectronics Research Centre.

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Contact us: +44 (0)23 8059 4521 light@orc.soton.ac.uk Optoelectronics Research Centre, Building 46, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, Hampshire, SO17 1BJ www.orc.soton.ac.uk www.photonicshubuk.org www.airguide.soton.ac.uk @orctweets @orcsouthampton