Current research degree projects

The study of the mechanical properties of any large, complex structures such as a space launch vehicle or Earth’s crust relies on a large array of sophisticated and, often, expensive sensors. Constrained by budget, the number of sensing nodes deployed in such projects often does not exceed a few hundred, limiting the scale and scope of these studies. The aim of this project is to establish a new class of sensing system that is capable of mapping strain distribution at thousands of points using a single strand of optical fibre thinner than a human hair. When placed on or inside a structure such as the airframe of an aircraft, optical fibres act as artificial nerves, transmitting valuable information about the condition of the structure to the interrogating unit that acts as a brain.

Most of our digital data is coming via an optical fibre in form of short optical pulses. University of Southampton is one of pioneering institutions in optical fibre development. But are optical fibre limited to optical domain?Terahertz waves sit between infrared and microwave bands. This is fascinating region where optics meets with radio-technology. Its unique properties offer new solutions for medical imaging, security checks and data transfer. Next wireless communication standard 6G will heavily rely on terahertz technology enabling higher bandwidth and greater data transmission rates. 

Global climate change is the biggest challenge faced by humanity. Not many people realise that most of the data at the scientist disposal is sparse and limited. It is sufficient for evaluating trends, but falls short in capability of tracking real time processes. This information is essential for scientists, policy makers and whole society to fully understand current situation. 

Ocean monitoring is a critical need, and it is closely related to human survival: from the long-term impact on global climate change to sustainable development of ocean resources. 

We are looking for a PhD student to join our interdisciplinary team of students, postdocs, and senior researchers developing chip-based, microscale optics for advancing quantum technologies.

This exciting multidisciplinary PhD project aims to develop a new class of marine sensors based on cutting-edge MID-IR silicon photonics research. The ocean, which acts as an environmental buffer by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) from human activity such as burning fossil fuels and changing land use (e.g. deforestation), is paying a heavy price. Ocean heat is at record levels and there have been widespread marine heatwaves. The past decade was exceptional in terms of global heat, retreating ice and record sea levels driven by greenhouse gases from human activities. Sea water is 26 percent more acidic than at the start of the industrial era, which poses an extreme hazard. The ocean absorbs about 38% of the CO2 released in the atmosphere. As atmospheric CO2 increases, the amount absorbed by the ocean also increases. When CO2 is absorbed by seawater, a series of chemical reactions occur resulting in the increased concentration of hydrogen ions and acidification. This process has far reaching implications for the ocean and the creatures that live there. 

Visible lasers are indispensable for applications such as display, underwater communication, microscopy, bio-photonics, optical storage, and materials processing. Often, high laser power is required. So far, the mainstream of high-power visible laser development has relied on frequency conversion techniques. However, often such systems are complex and require incorporation of bulk elements into the cavity, and thus are not suitable for robust, monolithic, devices. On the other hand, most rare earth (RE) ions exhibit absorption lines in the blue spectral region and fluorescence in the visible region. The progress in GaN-laser diodes (GaN-LD) covering wavelengths between 390 and 460 nm makes them promising pump sources for RE-doped solid-state lasers with direct emissions in the visible. To date, visible lasers utilising RE-doped fibres have been reported in fluoride glasses (such as ZBLAN) due to lower phonon energy than in oxide glasses, notably silica. However, fluoride glass fibres are known for their poor chemical durability, weak mechanical properties, higher background loss than silica fibres. Critically, they are also difficult to splice with silica fibre components. This makes it near-impossible to develop an all-fibre laser system and is a critical bottleneck to improved performance and commercial breakthrough.

Global internet traffic has been growing exponentially over the past two decades with a predicted growth rate of around 40% year-on-year. This growth is driven primarily by bandwidth-hungry applications such as cloud computing, Telemedicine, and 4K live streaming and is expected to continue in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G. However, the present optical fibre communication network’s capacity is solely based on the 11THz (C and L bands) gain bandwidth of erbium (Er) doped fibre amplifiers (EDFA) invented three decades ago. The scaling of the overall transmission capacity requires next-generation optical fibre amplifiers with ultra-broad gain bandwidths to further utilise the low-loss window offered by the solid- and hollow-core silica optical fibres.

We are looking for a PhD student to join our interdisciplinary team of students, postdocs, and senior researchers developing systems for quantum technologies.Nonlinear parametric photonics is used to control quantum systems and as sources for photonic qubits. Researchers at the University of Southampton have led the development of quasi-phase-matched non-linear systems. This project will combine novel fabrication approaches with well-developed commercial materials to expand the operation range into the blue and ultra-violet wavelength regions for atom and ion trap quantum systems.

The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.This project will create new ultra-low-loss optical components, reducing losses and allowing us to create large, entangled quantum states. In particular, the project will focus on the development of key missing components – quantum memories and switchable delays.