There has been a massive investment in optical fibre telecommunications technology over the last 40 years. Optical fibres lie at the very heart of modern society, providing the information superhighways required within our global communication systems.
Within the AFTA group we are developing the fibres, fibre devices, and system concepts required for next generation telecommunication systems and investigating new applications of the technology in areas beyond telecommunications including amongst others: high power pulsed fibre lasers, industrial materials processing, aerospace, biology, sensing and fundamental physics.
All PhD Projects:
Supervisory Team: Dr Yongmin Jung, Prof. David Richardson
Fibre lasers have no moving parts/mirrors in the light generating source and have emerged as the technology of choice for a wide range of industrial, medical and fundamental science applications.
The aim of the project is to develop new types of fibre lasers based on multicore fibre technology. Multicore fibre (MCF) amplifiers/lasers have multiple independent laser amplifier/laser channels in a single optical fibre and this can be a powerful platform for developing new types of laser having multiple laser outputs or operating at multiple wavelengths. During the project, various new MCF fibre laser concepts will be investigated covering both continuous wave and ultrashort (fs or ps) pulsed operation and several spatial beam shaping approaches will be studied/combined in addition. Furthermore, the project will explore coherent beam combination approaches based on MCF technology for high power laser applications in order to break through the current performance limits of single-mode, single-core fibre lasers. This could create big opportunities for the laser industry to optimize laser performance for particular light-matter interactions. For example, to maximize the efficiency of each pulse in laser-based material processing.
You’ll be part of the Pulsed Fibre Laser Group (~15-20 researchers) at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), and work in close collaboration with our academic and industrial partners to demonstrate the benefits of this new laser technology for applications in laser material processing and medical imaging.
Supervisory team: Dr Lin Xu, Dr Sijing Liang, Professor David Richardson
The mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral region from 2-20 µm contains strong characteristic vibrational transitions of many important molecules and incorporates the atmospheric transmission window, which makes it crucial for applications in spectroscopy, materials processing, chemical and biomolecular sensing, neuroscience and medical diagnosis, security and environmental monitoring. However, this wavelength range is difficult to access directly using traditional laser materials and cavity implementations.
This project will involve the development of high power short pulse fibre lasers operating at conventional near-IR wavelengths (e.g. 1 and 2µm) and converting the wavelength of the output light to the mid-IR wavelengths using nonlinear optical effects in specially engineered crystals, and/or optical fibres. As an integral part of the £6M Airguide Photonics EPSRC programme grant and a collaborative £5M EPSRC Healthcare Technologies grant, we will target both high-power laser operation providing a wide wavelength tuning range and a narrow spectral linewidth (that can be used to probe individual cells with high-resolution and with molecular specificity) and broadband supercontinuum sources with ultrahigh spectral power densities (that can be used to rapidly record the full absorption spectrum of biological samples without the need for laser tuning).
The project will create a world leading femto/pico-second pulsed fibre laser source as well as advanced nonlinear frequency conversion techniques, overcoming the technical challenges that are currently limiting progress in the field. In broad terms, the work undertaken by the project student will combine experiments and simulations and will be directed to advancing both our understanding of lasers and nonlinear optics, as well as applications of mid-IR laser in medical imaging. The finer details of the project can be aligned to suit the preferences of the successful candidate. You will emerge as a high-achieving young scientist ready to embark on a strong career in this rapidly growing field.
For candidates with industrial career aspirations, there are real opportunities to work closely with Trumpf, a major manufacturer of fibre lasers based in Southampton and a project partner on the grant, enabling experience to be gained of working with industry.
Supervisory Team: Dr. Natalie V. Wheeler, Dr. Qiang Fu
In this project we will develop hollow-core optical fibres (HCFs) for mid-infrared laser delivery. HCFs offer a radically new solution for laser delivery as they guide light in a gas-filled core, as opposed to glass in conventional optical fibres. HCF-based mid-infrared laser delivery systems could open exciting possibilities for diverse and valuable applications, including surgical treatment, gas sensing, and materials processing.
Your role will include HCF development, characterisation, and integration within a power delivery system tailored for medical applications.
This project is based at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton. The ORC has led the world in optical fibre technology research for the past 50 years and welcomes around 20 new PhD students each year (www.youtube.com). With over 90 state-of-the-art laboratories and 200 researchers working in all areas of photonics, the ORC provides an outstanding interdisciplinary environment for students to grow. Its cluster of 12 photonics spin-out companies provides a natural career path for PhD graduates.
We have a world-leading HCF group, which designs, fabricates and characterises state-of-the-art HCFs in our specialist cleanrooms and labs. In this specific project you will develop:
These solutions will be tailored for emerging medical applications, including:
A new fibre beam delivery system for therapeutic mid-infrared lasers will be developed to enhance system robustness and flexibility, allow sharing of expensive laser sources, and application for minimally invasive surgery.
An HCF-integrated laser system will have enhanced sensitivity for gas detection with applications in breath analysis, for instance, ethane, nitric oxide, and hydrogen peroxide as biomarkers for asthma, oxidative stress, and pulmonary diseases.
You will collaborate within an interdisciplinary team working across photonics, medicine, chemistry and industry, with access to a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment. You will work with experienced photonics researchers (>20 group members) and external partners (e.g., biomedical researchers/surgeons and chemists) to maximise the impact of your work.
In the first year of your PhD, a structured training programme runs alongside the research project, providing a gradual transition from taught degree to open-ended research. Students present their work at international conferences, first-author papers in leading academic journals and emerge with skills at the forefront of glass and fibre optics research. Former PhD researchers have made successful careers in universities worldwide or as industry scientists and business leaders.
Supervisory Team: Dr. Hans Christian Mulvad, Prof. Francesco Poletti, Prof. David Richardson
In this project, the radiation pressure of laser light will be explored to levitate, guide and accelerate particles within hollow core fibres (HCFs), aiming at new opportunities in both radioactive sensing and hypervelocity particle acceleration.
The trapping and guidance of microscopic particles using the radiation pressure of light has been well known since the pioneering work of A. Ashkin in the 1970’s, which has led to several important applications including optical tweezers in biology. In free space, the guiding range is typically limited to micrometre length scales due the divergence of the trapping laser beam. In HCFs on the other hand, the laser beam remains tightly confined within the hollow core, and with recent progress in developing record-low loss HCFs at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), it has become possible to guide and precisely position microscopic particles within kilometre-long fibres. This will allow the demonstration of “flying particle sensors” to achieve the remote detection of physical quantities such as electromagnetic fields or ionising radiation. As opposed to normal glass-core fibres which are prone to radiation-induced damage, HCFs also have the unique advantage of radiation-hardness. Hence, HCF may represent an innovative solution for remote sensing in highly radioactive environments. Particle acceleration is another research direction in this project, combining the radiation pressure from high-power lasers and the long HCF acceleration lengths to potentially achieve hypervelocity particle propulsion. This work will explore the unique capability of hollow core fibres for kilowatt-class laser power transmission over kilometre-range distances, as recently demonstrated at the ORC.
The project will be mainly experimental but will also include some numerical modelling to support the work. The project work will take place across several research groups, covering state-of-the-art high-power laser facilities and world-leading hollow-core fibre fabrication, allowing the candidate to collaborate with experienced researchers in both fields to achieve the project objectives.
Supervisory Team: Prof. Francesco Poletti, Dr. Hans Christian Mulvad, Prof. David Richardson
This project will explore some of the unique high-power laser applications enabled by recent advances in hollow-core fibre (HCF) technology. The project will aim at setting new standards for high-power, long-range laser transmission over record-low-loss HCFs. It will explore the development of novel, energy-efficient laser sources based on gas-filled HCFs. It will explore the unique radiation-hardness of HCFs to realise innovative solutions for remote, fibre-based detection of radioactivity.
Recent years have seen remarkable progress in the development of HCFs. Not only can HCFs transmit extreme laser power levels beyond the fundamental damage threshold of glass, but they can also achieve even lower propagation loss than traditional glass fibres, as demonstrated by researchers at the ORC. This progress has led to the demonstration of record kilowatt laser power transmission over a kilometre-range HCF, well beyond the capability of standard glass fibres [2]. In this project, the candidate will explore the most recent advances in HCF technology to further push the limits of high-power laser transmission. This work may be significant in several areas such as industrial laser processing, underground drilling, and nuclear decommissioning. Another opportunity arises by filling the hollow core of the HCF with gases of various compositions and pressures to explore gas-based nonlinear optical effects for the generation of light frequencies inaccessible with traditional laser systems. The long interaction length between the gas and high-intensity laser light made possible by HCFs may potentially lead to simple, energy-efficient and tunable laser sources that could benefit a large variety of applications. Finally, ionisation effects within the air- or gas-filled hollow core of the HCF may be explored to detect radioactivity. As opposed to glass-core fibres which are prone to radiation damage, HCFs have the advantage of radiation-hardness and may offer an innovative solution for the remote, distributed sensing of ionising radiation in radioactive environments.
The project will be mainly experimental but will also include some numerical modelling to support the work. The project work will take place across several research groups, covering state-of-the-art high-power laser facilities and world-leading hollow-core fibre fabrication, allowing the candidate to collaborate with experienced researchers in both fields to achieve the project objectives.
Supervisory Team: Dr Natalie Wheeler, Dr Yong Chen, Prof. Francesco Poletti
We are looking for a new PhD student with a background in chemistry, materials science and/or physics to join us to study the surface chemistry of thin glass membranes in hollow core fibres (HCFs).
HCFs are an exciting, novel optical fibre technology where light is guided in an air filled core. At the University of Southampton, we have a world-leading group, which designs, characterises and fabricates state-of-the-art HCFs in our specialist facilities and we recently reported a new world record low loss for this type of optical fibre. HCFs are now contenders for a diverse range of interesting applications, including telecommunications, high power laser delivery and novel medical diagnostics.
Now the optical lifetime of these fibres is becoming critical for their successful deployment. The hollow core is surrounded by a cladding structure formed from thin glass membranes with extreme dimensions, for example, with a width of only 30 nanometres but extending along the full fibre length (several kilometres). These membranes therefore present a novel and interesting platform for glass surface dynamics. We want to study the interactions between these surfaces and air (or other gases) within the fibre.
In this project, you will fabricate new HCFs, focussing on understanding the impact of different fabrication processes on the properties of the glass surfaces within the fibre and linking this to lifetime of the final fibre in various applications. You will become an expert in both fabrication and characterisation of HCFs, while developing a high level of understanding of glass science. You will work with experienced researchers, have access to a wide range of equipment and work with external partners to maximise the impact of your work.
This project is based at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton.The ORC has led the world in optical fibre technology research for the past 50 years. With over 90 state-of-the-art laboratories and 200 researchers working in all areas of photonics, the ORC provides an outstanding interdisciplinary environment for students to grow. Its cluster of 12 photonics spin-out companies provides a natural career path for PhD graduates.
In the first year of your PhD, a structured training programme runs alongside the research project, providing a gradual transition from taught degree to open-ended research. Students present their work at conferences worldwide, first-author papers in leading academic journals and emerge with skills at the forefront of glass and fibre optics research (www.youtube.com). Former PhD researchers have made successful careers in universities worldwide or as industry scientists and business leaders.