Supervisor: Prof Johan Nilsson
Diamond Raman lasers and fibre lasers is a match made in heaven, and the topic of a three-year collaborative effort between University of Southampton, University of Strathclyde, SPI Lasers, and Thales. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and has a combined budget of £1.7 million. The research in the PhD project focuses on fibre lasers with unique properties at 1 and 2 μm in the cw as well as pulsed regime, and their integration with diamond Raman lasers.
You will work in ORC’s renowned High-power Fibre Laser group, in top-class laboratories and with unsurpassed access to tailor-made fibres from ORC’s fabrication facilities. You will be integrated fully into the group, and conduct research both independently and in collaboration with other group members and the team. You may also spend some time at partners in Glasgow and Southampton, to integrate and validate the lasers in the partners’ test-beds. Beyond the immediate research project, you will have excellent opportunities to participate in many exciting activities in ORC’s open and rich research environment and work with world leaders in the exciting fields of fibre and diamond lasers. The research can focus on experiments, simulations / modelling, or both, to suit the profile of the student.
Supervisor: Prof Johan Nilsson
The objective is to develop new fibre lasers that enable improved sensors. Sensing, including remote sensing (e.g., lidar, light detection and ranging) is one of the most demanding application areas of laser sources, because of requirements on pulse energy, wavelength, beam quality, linewidth, and advanced modulation formats. There is now an opening in this area, based on a new collaboration with Northrop Grumman. The remit of this PhD project is quite flexible and can be adjusted to the profile of the student, but is likely to involve research on nonlinear fibre optics (e.g., stimulated Brillouin scattering) and high-concentration erbium-doped fibres in new regimes. You will work in ORC’s renowned High-power Fibre Laser group, in top-class laboratories and with access to tailor-made fibres from ORC’s fabrication facilities. You will be integrated fully into the group, and conduct research both independently and in collaboration with other group members. There may also be opportunities for visits to Northrop Grumman in the UK as well as in America. Beyond the immediate research project, you will have excellent opportunities to participate in many exciting activities in ORC’s open and rich research environment and work with world leaders in the field of fibre lasers.
Candidates for this position should have an interest in lasers and optionally in optical fibres and fibre design and laser-based sensing. The research is likely to focus on experimental work but can include or even focus on modelling and simulations to better fit the interests of the student.
The successful candidate will receive a top-up of up to £8,000 per year, in addition to any other stipend (e.g., above an enhanced stipend of £18,000 tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years available to UK candidates.)
Supervisor: Prof Johan Nilsson
A phased-array laser comprises an array of mutually coherent laser emitters, which together can generate a single coherent beam. This is an extremely exciting current which has the potential to revolutionize the field of lasers, by scaling power and pulse energies to levels unattainable in a coherent beam from a single emitter. Furthermore, by controlling the relative phase of the emitters independently, it is possible to generate wavefronts and focal spots of arbitrary shape. It is also possible to use these for synthetic phase conjugation, allowing a phased-array laser to effectively lase off any reflecting object without any direct alignment. PhD studies link to a project on phasing of femtosecond pulses. This can be either active phasing, which relies on electronic feedback for phase control of individual emitters, or passive phasing, which relies on nonlinear phase effects in the fibres.
These projects are suitable for candidates who are inclined towards experimental or theoretical work, or a mixture thereof. Knowledge of nonlinear fibre optics and computer control systems is desired but not required. This work can be in collaboration with University of Minnesota and University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo and involve exchanges with those universities.