Integrated Photonic Materials and Devices

This platform grant will underpin integrated photonics research in advanced laser sources, photonic circuits, and sensors, at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton, leveraging the recent investment of >£100M in the new Mountbatten Fabrication Complex. Photonic materials and device research has been the key driver of many disruptive advances in telecommunications, healthcare, data storage, display and manufacturing, and this platform grant will provide the group with the horizon and stability to build upon its international standing to explore new high-risk, high-reward research avenues.

Integrated photonic materials and devices of the future will play a huge role in the next generation of cheaper, faster, greener, disposable, miniaturised and more versatile systems based on silica and silicon, glasses, crystal and polymer hosts, in both channel and planar geometries. The broad range of expertise within our group and our access to the unequalled brand-new planar fabrication facilities will allow us to fully explore this diverse research area. Impact will be realised through applications in compact kW-class waveguide lasers (new manufacturing techniques), pollution sensors (monitoring climate change), optical amplifiers and switches (high-speed data control), early threat detection devices (homeland security), and fast universally accessible disease screening (point-of-care medical diagnostics).

Applications for the photonic materials, processes and devices developed during this platform grant will play a key role in fields of interest to society, Industry as well as university-based research and development, and will be pursued in collaboration with both existing and newly-identified partners during the programme.

Photonics is an underpinning technology which exploits light in applications from optical communications to chemical analysis and from data processing to precision machining. Integrated photonics aims to bring the same advantages of mass-manufacture of complex photonic systems at low cost that integrated electronics and the silicon chip brought to complex electronic systems. Where integrated electronics enabled all-pervasive consumer products such as the mobile phone, integrated photonics will impact consumer applications such as fibre-to-the-home and personal health monitoring. This project will establish a platform of advanced materials, processes and devices which will benefit:

Manufacturing industry by providing advanced materials processing techniques for photonic devices, compact high-power lasers for cutting and welding, and instrumentation for monitoring in food and drink processing,

IT systems providers and users through providing low-power integrated photonic circuits for application in fibre-to-the-home and devices such as all-optical frequency convertors for signal routing and compact optical amplifiers,

Society and regulatory bodies through optical sources for mapping greenhouse gases and monitoring water and atmospheric pollutants,

Healthcare services and the public through providing multisensor devices for infectious disease screening, hospital superbugs and markers for heart disease and genetic predisposition to disease,

Security services and military personnel by providing lightweight, compact, robust sources for standoff detection of chemical and biological species and microchips for precise specific analysis of biohazards,

Standards organisations by realising novel devices for metrology.

The potential economic impact will be realised by turning our ideas and technological advances into end-products through collaboration with new and existing industrial partners, and though spin-out activity as already pioneered by several of the investigators who have set up companies to commercialise their planar technologies. The impact for society will be pursued through continuing collaboration with government agencies, hospitals and standards bodies.