PLATFORM: PHOTONIC DEVICE AND SYSTEM RESEARCH

这项建议是为平台提供资金，为经验丰富的研究人员提供职业连续性，这些研究人员支持光子学研究小组战略的四个关键方向。使用飞秒脉冲的激光加工：最近发射高峰值功率非常快的脉冲的激光来源的发展创造了丰富的材料加工可能性。聚焦的激光光束可以用来以小于1微米的分辨率对任何透明材料的性质进行可控的修改，这使得能够直接刻写波导和其他更复杂的结构。可以使用更高的功率来从基板上去除材料，从而允许加工微米级的特征。我们计划加强和结合我们在微机械加工和激光改性方面的专业知识，以创造一系列具有独特性能的新型微型化设备，用于光学传感和通信应用。先进的光栅传感器：光纤布拉格光栅和长周期光栅传感器是记录在单模石英光纤核心中的周期性结构，通常带有紫外线。它们衍射光的波长很明确，受设备环境的影响，在光通信和传感系统中得到了越来越多的应用。我们计划通过将我们使用更灵活的FS激光刻字方法生产此类器件的能力与新颖的纤维几何结构和/或使用其他材料(例如聚合物)相结合，显著增强此类器件的能力。聚合物具有与用于传统光纤的二氧化硅完全不同的物理特性。系统和组件建模：将在三个主要领域进行理论和计算建模，以支持我们的实验工作。(I)我们将对高速、频谱高效的WDM传输中的高级调制格式的性能和误差统计数据进行广泛的直接统计建模；(Ii)我们将为电信和非电信应用设计先进的光子组件；以及(Iii)我们将为FS刻字应用开发高功率光纤激光器的模型。光通信：我们在这方面的大部分工作与色散/光速对其波长的依赖有关。光纤中的色散给今天的超高带宽系统带来了一个严重的问题，导致沿光纤传输时所需的极短脉冲展宽，最终与相邻脉冲重叠，使其无法恢复原始数据流。将研究在长途传输系统中减轻色散影响的先进技术，并将在一系列领域寻求色散干涉设备/Gires-Tournois标准具/的全新应用。此外，还将开展为实现全光通信网络奠定基础的技术开发工作。

This proposal is for Platform funding to provide career continuity for highly experienced research staff working in support of four key strands of the Photonics Research Group's strategy.Laser processing using fs pulses: the recent development of laser sources emitting very shot pulses with high peak power has created a wealth of material processing possibilities. The focussed laser beams can be used to create controllable modifications to the properties of any transparent material with a resolution of less than a micron and this enables the direct inscription of waveguides and other more complicated structures. Higher powers can be used to remove material from the substrate, allowing the machining of micron sized features. We plan to enhance and combine our expertise in micro-machining and laser modification to create a range of novel micro-miniaturised devices with unique properties, for applications in optical sensing and communications.Advanced grating sensors: fibre Bragg grating and long period grating sensors are periodic structures recorded in the core of a single mode silica fibre, usually with ultraviolet light. They diffract light of a well defined wavelength, which is influenced by the device's environment, and have been finding increasing application in optical communications and sensing systems. We plan to significantly enhance the capability of these kinds of devices by combining our ability to produce them using the more flexible fs laser inscription approach with novel fibre geometries and/or the use of other materials, e.g. polymers, which possess radically different physical properties to the silica used for conventional fibres.Systems and component modelling: theoretical and computational modelling will be carried out in three main areas in support of our experimental work. (i) We will undertake extensive direct statistical modelling of advanced modulation formats performance and error statistics in high-speed, spectrally efficient WDM transmission; (ii) we will design advanced photonic components for telecom and non-telecom applications, and (iii) we will develop models of high-power fibre lasers for fs inscription applications.Optical communications: much of our effort here is related to dispersion / the dependence of the velocity of light on its wavelength. Dispersion in optical fibres leads to a serious problem for today's ultra-high bandwidth systems, causing the very short pulses required to broaden as they travel down the fibre, eventually overlapping with their neighbours and rendering it impossible to recover the original data stream. Advanced techniques will be studied for mitigating the effects of dispersion in long haul transmission systems and entirely novel applications of a dispersive interferometric device / the Gires-Tournois etalon / will be sought in a range of fields. In addition, work will be carried out developing technology underpinning the realization of the all-optical communications network.