The Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences
ANNUAL REPORT 20
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THE INSTITUTE OF PHOTONICS AND QUANTUM SCIENCES School of Engineering and Physical SciencesDavid Brewster BuildingHeriot-Watt UniversityEdinburgh, EH14 4ASUK
+44 (0) 131 451 [email protected]
£10,007,557Research Income
36Faculty
Members
50PDRAs
116PhD and EngD
Students
85Publications
1 Director’s Statement
2 Research Highlights
6 Faculty and Staff
12 Research Projects and Technology Developments
20 New Grant Awards
24 Publications, Patents and Awards
32 PhD and EngD Students
40 Education and Training
44 Outreach and Other Activities
50 Facilities and Equipment
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Welcome to the third annual report from the Institute of Photonic and Quantum Sciences (IPAQS).
IPAQS is one of five research institutes comprising Heriot-Watt’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Formed in 2012, we are one of the UK’s largest concentrations of researchers in photonics, with a breadth extending from applied topics in industrial laser processing and astronomical instrumentation to fundamental concepts in condensed matter physics and quantum optics.
Our staff play a leading role in the UK photonics community, and include Principal and Co-Investigators of major EPSRC investments such as Centres for Innovative Manufacturing, Quantum Technology Hubs and Centres for Doctoral Training. We are also a centre of entrepreneurship and innovation in photonics, with several spin-out companies founded by IPAQS staff.
The last twelve months have seen research highlights in lasers, metamaterials, quantum technology, laser-based manufacturing and photochemistry. As an Institute we continue to work closely with industry, with more than 50 companies collaborating in our research activities. Community culture is important in IPAQS, whether through student-led activities like the OSA Chapter and postgraduate lab tours, or the regular research seminars and the Friday coffee-and-donuts time.
Staff in the Institute interact closely with undergraduates through lectures and final-year project supervision, but also informally in social events such as those run by the Heriot-Watt Physics Society. Activities such as these make IPAQS a vibrant and dynamic home for researchers of all career stages.
I welcome your interest in IPAQS and hope that you find this report interesting and informative.
Director’s Statement
Professor Patrik Öhberg Head, Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences
IPaQS Annual Report 20182
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Fig. 1 A sketch of the device made of just a few sheets of atoms Fig. 2 A cartoon of “quantum tunnelling” of electrons (red balls with arrows) between a sheet of graphene (top layer, black atoms) and tungsten diselenide (bottom layer, dark and light blue atoms).
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A single sheet of atoms offers the ultimate limit in miniaturization of flexible electronic and photonic devices. Beyond just physical size, two-dimensional (2D) crystals are intriguing due to highly unique optical, electronic, and mechanical properties. Researchers around the world are investigating if such materials could be used in hardware for future technologies which exploit the bizarre properties of quantum mechanics.
For quantum devices, one must be able to control the number of particles, such as electrons, in the quantum device down to the ultimate limit: just zero or one particle. Writing in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the Quantum Photonics Lab in IPaQS, together with international partners, have achieved control over the quantum tunnelling between a source of electrons and a region to trap the electron. Quantum tunnelling is a well-established phenomenon whereby subatomic particles can pass through a solid barrier, such as a wall.
Dr. Mauro Brotons-Gisbert explains: “According to quantum mechanics, when the quantum tunnelling is highly likely, a single particle’s position can be described
by a probability that it is located on both sides of a solid barrier. In our device, the solid barrier or ‘wall’ was a single sheet of atoms, so the probability that it could be on both sides was very high, and we were able to tune this simply by changing a voltage to a device. This led to dramatic effects when the light was emitted from the quantum dot.
The 2D material platform offers exciting opportunities to combine different types of atomic sheets, giving us access to unique physics that isn’t possible with conventional bulk semiconductors. Our results show that we can make such devices at the quantum level – controlling a single trapped particle in a deterministic way.”
These new results enable a better understanding of the quantum properties of 2D materials and allows new types of experiments, in particular where the particles which are tunnel coupled to the quantum device can have interesting properties, for instance from a magnetic material or graphene. Ultimately, this could lead to new technologies based on quantum mechanics.
1HighlightControlling quantum particles one-by-one in an atomically thin deviceProfessor Brian D Gerardot | [email protected]
Fig. 1 Soliton dynamics in a 3 m long, 250 μm diameter, helium-filled hollow capillary fibre. a Soliton self-compression of a 10 fs pump pulse down to 1.2 fs (envelope duration) or 412 attoseconds (field transient) as the pump energy is increased. b Tuneable ultrashort (2 fs) pulse generation from 110 nm to 350 nm. The corresponding peak powers are the highest generated across the VUV region
IPaQS Annual Report 20184
High energy soliton dynamics for optical attosecond pulse generation and a bright table-top vacuum-ultraviolet light sourceDr John C Travers | [email protected]
Publication: J. C. Travers, T. F. Grigorova, C. Brahms, and F. Belli, ‘High-energy pulse self-compression and ultraviolet generation through soliton dynamics in hollow capillary fibres’, Nature Photonics, 2019 (in press)
2Highlight
Solitons, a central concept in nonlinear physics, are particle-like nonlinear wave-packets or pulses that maintain their shape upon propagation and interaction. They appear in many areas of physics, including plasmas, magnetic circuits and the atmosphere. Optical solitons form through the balance of linear effects such as dispersion or diffraction, and the intensity dependent refractive index. A wide range of fascinating and useful soliton dynamics have been discovered in solid-core fibres at up to kilowatt peak powers, and up to megawatt peak powers in gas-filled microstructured fibres. These effects include: pulse self-compression, the emission of radiation analogous to the Čerenkov radiation, inter-soliton collisions, and soliton self-frequency shifting due to interactions with molecular oscillations and plasma. We have identified a new regime of high-energy optical soliton dynamics in large-core gas-filled hollow capillary fibres (HCF), which enable soliton effects to be scaled in magnitude up to the terawatt peak power level.
We have experimentally demonstrated two key soliton effects. First, we observe self-compression to sub-cycle pulses and infer the creation of sub-femtosecond field waveforms with 40 gigawatt peak power (Fig. 1a)—a route to high-power optical attosecond pulse generation, the shortest optical pulses ever created. To measure such short optical pulses we had to design and build a new type of pulse characterization device with the broadest bandwidth yet achieved. Secondly, we efficiently generated continuously tuneable high-energy, 2 femtosecond pulses across the vacuum and deep ultraviolet (110 nm to 400 nm) through resonant dispersive-wave emission (Fig. 1b). These VUV pulses are the brightest ever generated from a laser system, and as bright as those produced in kilometre scale free-electron lasers, despite being produced in a table-top setup. These results promise to be the foundation of a new generation of table-top light sources for ultrafast strong-field physics and advanced spectroscopy.
Enhanced nonlinear optics in bulk epsilon-near-zero materialsDr. Marcello Ferrera | [email protected]
3Highlight
Research overview: The ASN Lab (www.asn-lab.org) led by Dr. M. Ferrera seeks for alternative approaches to create future integrated photonic devices based on novel Transparent conducting oxides – (TCOs). With this class of materials Dr. Ferrera and co-workers initiated the new field of metal-free (all-dielectric) plasmonics which allows to drastically mitigate many fundamental technological issues which are plaguing today’s plasmonic components such as high losses, lack of tunability, and incompatibility with standard semiconductor fabrication processes [1]. A key feature of TCOs is that they allow to enter the so-called epsilon-near-zero regime (where the real dielectric permittivity approaches zero) at fundamental telecom wavelengths and without the need for complex 3D metamaterials. In the near-infrared frequency range and close to the crossover wavelength, TCOs nonlinearities have been proved to be remarkable, while losses are still manageable [2]. These unique features of TCO compounds can be ingeniously exploited for gaining an unprecedented freedom in moulding the flow of light on a sub-picosecond time scale. In this direction, Dr. Ferrera wishes to exploit TCOs’ optimized nonlinearities to design a new class of time-varying thin films and devices capable of
performing frequency conversion and wavefront engineering on a sub-picosecond time scale and along propagation distance of few hundreds of nm [3]. These components, besides overcoming the fundamental limit of static operation, will outperform standard plasmonic metasurfaces in terms of energy efficiency, while also enabling a plethora of functionalities which are intrinsically unreachable by traditional flat optics (e.g. non-reciprocal components such as optical isolators and circulators). The applicability of the proposed technology embraces optical imaging, cryptography, pulse shaping, polarization engineering, and enhanced sensing just to mention few. This research follows the current trend towards all-dielectric devices [4], while enabling giant complex nonlinearities and record high figure of merit for quantum information and ultra-fast optics [2;5-6].
[1] Journal of Optics 18 (9), 093005 (2016)[2] Optica, 2 (7) 616-622 (2015)[3] Nano letters 18 (2), 740-746 (2018)[4] Optica 4, 7, 814 (2017)[5] Nat. Commum. 8, 15829 (2017)[6] Journal of Optics 20 (2), 024007 (2018)
Fig. 1 Representation of complex optical nonlinearities in transparent conducting oxides. Photons at different energies (i.e. different colours) induces opposite effects on the material refractive index, here artistically depicted by a surface deformation.
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2018 selected publications: ‘Ultra-fast transient plasmonics using transparent conductive oxides’ J. Opt. 20, 024007 (2018). ‘Optical Time Reversal from Time-Dependent Epsilon-Near-Zero Media’ Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 043902 (2018) ‘Dynamic Control of Nanocavities with Tunable Metal Oxides’ Nano Lett. 18, 740−746 (2018). ‘Degenerate nonlinear enhancement in epsilon-near-zero transparent conducting oxides’ Opt. Mater. Express 8, 11, 3392-3400 (2018).
IPaQS Annual Report 20186
FACULTYAND STAFF
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STAFF
Professor Patrik ÖhbergHead of Institute of Photonics
and Quantum [email protected]
0131 451 8184
Research interests:• Gauge field theories
• Bose-Einstein Condensate dynamics
Dr Cristian [email protected]
0131 451 3470
Research interests:• Spin-based
quantum technology• Nanoscience
Dr Maria Anna [email protected]
0131 451 8398
Research interests:• Ultrafast photonics
• Pulsed semiconductor lasers • High-speed sensing
Professor Daniel M J Esser
[email protected] 451 3085
Research interests:• Mid-infrared laser sources
Professor Erika A [email protected]
0131 451 3653
Research interests:• Quantum information
science, including quantum signatures
• Quantum optics• Quantum measurements
Professor Gerald S Buller
G.S. [email protected] 451 3069
Research interests:• Sparse photon
depth imaging• Quantum communications• Single-photon detection
technologies
Dr Xianzhong [email protected]
0131 451 3802
Research interests:• Holographic optics• Metasurface optics
Dr Alessandro [email protected]
0131 451 3649
Research interests:• Foundations of quantum physics
• Quantum optics
Dr Fabio [email protected]
0131 451 3773
Research interests:• Nonlinear fibre optics• Condensed matter
analogues in optics
Dr Richard [email protected]
0131 451 4143
Research interests:• High power laser
manufacturing processes• Fibre optics
Dr Ross [email protected]
0131 451 8120
Research interests:• Quantum communications
• Aerial platforms• Novel optical and photonic technology
Dr Marcello [email protected]
0131 451 3650
Research interests:• Plasmonics
• Metamaterial physics
IPaQS Annual Report 20188
Professor Ian [email protected]
0131 451 3066
Research interests:• Semiconductors• Exciton physics
Professor D P [email protected]
0131 451 3020
Research interests:• Applications of high power
lasers in manufacturing and medicine
• Fibre optics for high peak power laser light
• Optical sensing
Professor Ajoy [email protected]
0131 451 3049
Research interests:• Graphene Photonics
• Chalcogende Photonics• Biophotonics and Healthcare• Ultrafast Waveguide Lasers
Dr Robert R J [email protected]
0131 451 3084
Research interests:• Additive layer manufacturing
Dr Erik [email protected]
0131 451 3345
Research interests:• Information theory• Quantum physics
• Super and sub-radiance dynamics
Dr Michael [email protected]
0131 451 8220
Research interests:• Many body quantum systems
• Quantum opto-mechanics
Dr Jonathan [email protected]
0131 451 4174
Research interests:• Quantum optics
• Entangled orbital angular momentum states
• Novel imaging technologies
Dr Mehul [email protected]
0131 451 8117
Research interests:• Quantum photonics
• Quantum information• Quantum technologies
Professor Brian GerardotDeputy Director, [email protected]
0131 451 8069
Research interests:• Solid-state quantum
photonics• Nanoscience
• Quantum optics
Professor Mats [email protected]
013 451 4333
Research interests:• Nano-electro-mechanics
Dr William [email protected]
0131 451 3733
Research interests:• Optical sensors
Dr Richard [email protected]
0131 451 3645
Research interests:• High-speed
quantum random number generation
• Tunable pulsed lasers for multi-photon microscopy
• Mid-infrared single-photon generation
• Frequency combs for astronomical
spectrograph calibration
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Professor A J [email protected]
0131 451 8068
Research interests:• Additive manufacture of
metals• THz metrology
Dr Mohammed [email protected]
0131 451 4333
Research interests:• Fibre based nonlinear optics
Dr. Robert R [email protected]
0131 451 3291
Research interests:• Astrophotonics
• Bio-sensors
Dr Wei [email protected]
0131 451 3141
Research interests:• Optical Information
Processing• Statistical Optics
• Optical Metrology• Biomedical Optics
Professor Carl R [email protected]
0131 451 4333
Research interests:• Quantum optics of
impurities in Si
Dr Jonathan [email protected]
0131 451 4343
Research interests:• Lasers for medical applications • Laser manufacturing processes
Dr Dave [email protected]
0131 451 3794
Research interests:• Femtochemistry
• Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy
Dr Xu [email protected]
0131 451 3775
Research interests:• Optical communication
• All optical signal processing• Real-time ultra-fast imaging
Professor Derryck T [email protected]
0131 451 3652
Research interests:• Optical frequency combs
• Femtosecond OPOs• Sub-surface semiconductor
microscopy
Professor Mohammad Taghizadeh
[email protected] 451 3067
Research interests:• Holography
Dr John [email protected]
0131 451 4039
Research interests:• Nonlinear fibre optics
• VUV and EUV pulse generation• High intensity light-matter
interaction
Professor John I B WilsonJ.I.B. [email protected]
0131 451 3034
Research interests:• Photovoltaic power,
thin-film materials
IPaQS Annual Report 201810
Post-Doctoral Research Associates
Name Email Project Title
Dr Hyeonjun Baek [email protected] Scalable two-dimensional quantum integrated photonics
Dr Rainer Beck [email protected] fluorescence guided steerable laser tool for precision
resection of early stage cancers
Dr Federico Belli [email protected] High-intensity solitons in gas-filled hollow fibers (HISOL)
Dr Aurelian Benoit [email protected] astronomical spectrographs using single-mode
photonic technologies
Dr Antoine Berrou [email protected] pulsed 2µm oscillator-amplifier
demonstrators
Dr Prveen Bidare [email protected] characterisation of powder bed fusion for
process setting
Dr Rolf Birch [email protected] High energy amplifiers for ultrafast lasers
Dr Ioannis Bitharas [email protected] PBF process fundamentals for healthcare applications
Dr Christian Brahms [email protected] High-energy soliton dynamics in hollow capillary fibres
Dr Artur Branny [email protected] Two-dimensional quantum photonics
Dr Mauro Brotons i Gisbert [email protected] Quantum dots in two-dimensional heterostructures
Dr Alberto Campos-Zatarain [email protected] High-brightness laser diode module
Dr Pablo Castro-Marin [email protected] Frequency combs for manufacturing
Dr Jianyong Chen [email protected] ARMOR - add remove measure or repair
Dr Debaditya Choudhury [email protected] Multiplexed 'touch and tell' optical sensing and imaging
Dr Robert John Collins [email protected] quantum technology hub for quantum
communications technologies
Dr Hatef Dinparasti Saleh [email protected] quantum random number generation for
secure data communications
Dr Adrian Dzipalski [email protected] Sensors for large scale hydrodynamic imaging
of the ocean floor
Dr Adam Forrest [email protected] UPTIME - Real-TIME probing of ultrafast phenomena
Dr Wojciech Gora [email protected] - Laser surface engineering for new and enhanced functional performance with digitally
enabled knowledge base
Dr Joseph Ho [email protected] Quantum networks using photonic cluster states
Dr Oguzhan Kara [email protected] Midinfrared standoff spectroscopy for fugitive emissions
Dr Nikoleta Kotsina [email protected] non-linear optical-fibre sources for time-resolved
molecular dynamics: towards the next generation of ultrafast spectroscopy
Dr Santosh Kumar [email protected] Two-dimensional quantum photonics
Dr Dmytro Kundys [email protected] telecom cluster states for
next generation quantum photonics
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Name Email Project Title
Dr Harikumar Kuzhikkattu Chandrasekharan
Laser manufacturing of distal-end-optical-systems for endoscopic optical-biopsy diagnostics
Dr Aurora Maccarone [email protected] Underwater single-photon imaging
Dr Mark Mackenzie [email protected] and application of next generation
chalcogenides
Dr David MacLachlan [email protected] noise, high-throughput, time-resolved single-photon
sensor for quantum applications
Dr Aongus McCarthy [email protected] Quantum enhanced imaging (led by Glasgow)
Dr Paulina Morawska [email protected] - ULTRAfast laser WELDing of highly dissimilar
materials – development of a truly industrial process
Dr Rikki Moug [email protected] of expitaxial lift off technology for
II-VI semiconductors
Dr Sebabrata Mukherjee [email protected] Photonic near IR radial velocity spectrographs
Dr Catarina Novo [email protected] Safe target project and eFinger project
Dr Dimitrios Polyzos [email protected] T, low P bonding of ultrasound transducer arrays
singulated using femtosecond machining
Dr Raphael Proux [email protected] Quantum communications hub
Dr Ittoop Puthoor [email protected] quantum technology hub for quantum
communications technologies
Dr Markus Rambach [email protected] frequency conversion of a quantum dot
emitter to telecom wavelengths: high quality single photons for hybrid systems
Dr Ximing Ren [email protected], detecting and exploiting quantum states
of light - renewal
Dr Martin Ringbauer [email protected] Multi-photon quantum information processing
Dr Marius Rutkauskas [email protected] - photonic imaging strategies for technical art
history and conservation
Dr Bartłomiej Siwicki [email protected] antiresonant fibres for visible and ultraviolet
beam delivery
Dr Mike Tanner [email protected] Through-body TCSPC for locating medical devices
Dr Manuel Valiente Cifuentes [email protected] Topological and unconventional quantum fluids
Dr Peter Vines [email protected] Integrated photonic quantum technologies
Dr Andrew Waddie [email protected] Photoelasticity for opaque objects
Dr Krystian Wlodarczyk [email protected] – microscale processes governing
global sustainability
Dr Feng Ye [email protected] Laser frequency comb for quantum timekeeping
Dr Feng Zhu [email protected] Quantum imaging technologies using SPAD array sensors
Dr Jingxuan Zhu [email protected] growth of Mn-Cr chalcogenide alloys
and heterostructures
IPaQS Annual Report 201812
RESEARCH PROJECTS AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
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2018 marks the completion of a hugely successful 5 years for CIM-Laser, delivering a significant volume of industry-focused manufacturing research, much of which is either being transferred to industry or being further developed in follow-on EPSRC, EU and Innovate UK funded projects. CIM-Laser has contributed to the development of many highly skilled people, with more than 60 researchers directly involved in CIM-Laser: 19 academic staff, 26 RAs, 12 PhD and 5 EngD students. In addition, we have funded 4 Innovation projects at Universities outside of CIM-Laser.
CIM-Laser has supported a total of 40 separate projects, co-funded with our industrial partners. Our strategy throughout has been to combine laser material interaction fundamentals with advanced materials science to underpin the development and optimisation of laser-based manufacturing processes. We developed,
initiated and delivered projects across a wide range of laser interaction timescales (from picosecond pulsed to continuous lasers) to characterise basic laser-material interactions at a fundamental level, whilst solving specific manufacturing challenges. For example, we undertook fundamental research to understand the underlying physics and hence significantly improve the yield of a novel picosecond laser welding process for direct bonding of highly dissimilar materials (such as glass and metal).
Key research highlights across CIM-Laser include: the development of a laser wire additive manufacture system capable of producing features as small as 1 mm across, suitable for applications such as the repair of turbine blades; the demonstration of laser melting systems in novel configurations including high laser power, ns pulsed systems and low atmospheric pressure
CIMEPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-based Production Processes
Glass micro-machining
IPaQS Annual Report 201814
systems; the development of high-energy lasers at 2 µm wavelength to enable materials processing feasibility studies; the manufacture of holographic anti-counterfeiting structures directly onto metal surfaces (as highlighted by BBC Scotland); the development of a miniaturised GHz frame rate holographic imaging system and testing of this with ultra-short pulsed laser processes including the welding of glass to metal; the development of a phenomenological model for laser powder bed processes, essential to understand and compensate machine-to-machine variability with powder bed additive manufacturing; and the demonstration of improved strength dissimilar welding (steel to aluminium) by pre-processing with a pulsed laser.
Our Outreach Activity particularly focused on building links to the UK industrial laser, manufacturing, and academic communities beyond the cohort of our collaborators. In year one we worked with these communities to produce a UK Roadmap. Building on this, we (jointly with AILU, Association of Industrial Laser Users) formed a National Strategy Working group to develop Lasers for Productivity: a UK Strategy. This was launched at the Houses of Parliament in March 2018.
We have also organised and co-organised a range of workshops and other events, in order to support the community of laser users in the UK. These included the CIM-Laser conferences in 2017 and 2018, and hosting of a major international conference at Heriot-Watt in June 2018, Laser Precision Microfabrication.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of all those who have engaged with the Centre, both the dedicated academic team and our highly supportive (and challenging!) industrial partners.
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IPaQS Annual Report 201816
Quantum Hubs: EPSRC Quantum Technology Hubs
Gerald Buller (novel single-photon detectors; single-photon imaging; quantum-enhanced imaging; sparse photon imaging in extreme environments; quantum communication protocols; quantum amplifiers; Management Board QuantIC Hub; Member Management Board QuComms Hub, EPSRC Established Career Fellowship in QT; industry links with Leonardo, DSTL, Helia Photonics, and numerous other SME’s) Brian Gerardot (solid-state spin-photon interfaces; indistinguishable single-photon and entangled photon solid-state devices; quantum dots; 2D materials; integrated quantum photonics; Co-I QuComms Hub, ERC Consolidator Grant; RS Wolfson Merit Award; RA Eng. Chair in Emerging Technology) Erika Andersson (quantum communications; quantum digital signatures; quantum information theory; Co-I QuComms Hub) Jonathan Leach (single-photon imaging through obscurants; photonic QIP with OAM; quantum imaging; multi-photon entanglement; joint projects with DSTL; Co-I QuantIC Hub)
Alessandro Fedrizzi (entangled photon sources, cluster state quantum computing; quantum software; satellite QKD; multi-dimensional QKD; partnership projects with NQIT and QuComms Hubs; EPSRC Early Career Fellowship in QT) Mehul Malik (high-dimensional QKD; multi-photon entanglement; quantum information transport through optical fibres; quantum secure imaging; EPSRC QT Fellowship) Cristian Bonato (nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond; solid-state spin-photon interfaces; silicon carbide quantum devices; adaptive phase estimation and single spin magnetometry; EPSRC Early Career Fellowship) Erik Gauger (bio-inspired QT including energy harvesting; theory of quantum nanostructures; quantum biology including avian compass; molecular sensors and devices; (solid-state) quantum information; processing & metrology; RSE Research Fellowship in bio-inspired QT)
Ross Donaldson (Quantum communications with aerial platforms, including satellites; quantum amplifiers; novel photonic technology for quantum communications; RAEng Fellowship)
IPaQS is an established centre of excellence in Quantum Technology (QT), playing a major role in the UK’s National Quantum Technology Programme via the EPSRC QuantIC and QuComms Quantum Technology Hubs, the EPSRC Fellowship Programme, and several major Innovate UK projects with UK industry. In addition, IPaQS is heavily
involved in other UK, EU, and International quantum technology initiatives. IPaQS has a strong mixture of established quantum technology leaders and ambitiously recruited early career leaders from the best international institutions. The following is a list of IPaQS academics at the forefront of quantum science and technology.
Michael Hartmann (quantum simulations; matrix product states; theory of superconducting quantum devices; opto- and nanomechanics; machine learning)
Patrik Öhberg (theory of ultracold atoms; quantum simulators; quantum optomechanics) Robert Thomson (clinical applications of time-correlated single-photon imaging; integrated optical analogues of quantum phenomena; laser fabricated integrated quantum photonics; partner of the QuComms Hub) Xu Wang (optical communication, ultrafast imaging, secure high speed optical communications with QKD, partner of the QuComms Hub) Maria Ana Cataluna (ultrafast semiconductor quantum-confined lasers and photonic devices; ultrafast spectroscopy of novel low-dimensional semiconductor materials; ultra-high-speed optical sensing enabled by ultrafast photonics; ERC Grant holder) Mohammed Saleh (nonlinear optics; integrated quantum photonics; RSE Research Fellowship in nonlinear photonics)
Fabio Biancalana (quantum soliton propagation and evaporation; graphene; 2D materials; nonlinear quantum optical processes) Xianzhong Chen (metamaterials and metasurfaces; polarization control; OAM manipulation; nanophotonics, joint projects with Holoxica) Marcello Ferrera (nanophotonics; nonlinear materials; integrated optics; plasmonics; ultra-fast all-optical devices with applications including on-chip THz science, signal processing, optical computing, integrated quantum optics) John Travers (light-matter interactions in gases; ERC Grant) Ian Galbraith (semiconductor quantum systems; excitons; quantum dots; 2D materials)
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IPaQS Annual Report 201818
IPaQS is a major participant in the UK Quantum Technology Programme, a nationwide £300M+ initiative in what promises to be the next revolution in technology, enabling breakthrough applications in a variety of areas such as computing, sensing, secure communications and imaging.
IPaQS is a major partner in two of the four UK Quantum Technology hubs for a total value of £5M. We also host three prestigious Quantum Technology Fellowships: an Established Career Fellowship for Professor Gerald Buller; and Early Career Fellowships for Dr Alessandro Fedrizzi and Dr Mehul Malik. Additional investment from the University has allowed the creation of a new laboratory work space shared between the Quantum Technology research groups involved in both Hubs, providing a unique opportunity for fostering excellence and productivity.
The UK Quantum Technology Hub for Quantum Communications
The UK Quantum Technology Hub for Quantum Communications is a partnership of eight UK Universities (Bristol, Cambridge, Heriot-Watt, Leeds, Royal Holloway, Sheffield, Strathclyde, and York), numerous private sector companies (BT, Toshiba Research Europe Laboratories Ltd, amongst others), and public sector bodies (National Physical Laboratory, Bristol City Council and the EPSRC National Dark Fibre Infrastructure Service), that have come together in a unique collaboration to exploit fundamental laws of quantum physics for the development of secure communications technologies and services.
Led by the University of York, the five-year, 24M QComms Hub aims to deliver quantum encryption systems that will in turn enable secure transactions and transmissions of data across a range of users in real-world applications: from government agencies and industrial set-ups to commercial establishments and the wider public. Heriot-Watt is specifically involved in providing quantum digital signature schemes, quantum amplifiers, and single photon source technologies.
UK Quantum Technology Programme
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The UK Quantum Technology Hub for Quantum Imaging
The UK Quantum Technology Hub for Quantum Imaging is a partnership of seven UK Universities (Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Oxford, Bristol, Warwick) and a number of companies (e.g. Thales, Selex, Renishaw, MSquared lasers, E2V, Andor, Oxford Instruments). QuantIC aims to link world-leading quantum technologists with global industry leaders to transform imaging in alignment with industry priorities. Together we will pioneer imaging and sensing systems with breakthrough functionality by developing a family of quantum-enhanced multidimensional cameras operating across a range of wavelengths, timescales and length-scales.
Led by Glasgow University, the £27m QuantIC hub will deliver quantum-inspired imaging solutions such as single pixel cameras, ultra-high speed imaging, gravitational field imaging and covert range finders, together with an array of novel light sources and detector technologies. Heriot-Watt is specifically involved in the following areas: ultra-high speed cameras with applications such as detecting images obscured by fog, smoke or other obscurants; next generation underwater imaging systems; reconstructing colour and depth images at the single-photon level; and development of the next generation of near-infrared single photon detectors based on germanium-on-silicon.
IPaQS Annual Report 201820
We are grateful for the support of these industrial partners
NEW GRANT AWARDS
®
JK LasersTM
TWI
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New Grant Awards in 2018
Name Project Title Sponsor Dates Value
Anagnostou Metasurfaces A-La-Carte using Phase Change VO2 DSTL 19/11/2018-18/08/2019 £100,000
Bonato Quantum sensing of electric fields in SiC devices EPSRC 01/11/2018-31/10/2019 £44,719
Bonato Coherent Control of Single Spins in Silicon Carbide Nanopillars The Royal Society 15/03/2018-14/03/2019 £15,000
Bonato Single spin-active colour centres in SiC photonic structures Carnegie Trust 01/09/2018-01/09/2019 £9,858
Buller Agile Safe Communications Innovate UK 01/11/2018-31/03/2021 £199,004
Corne Towards Quantum Circuits for Accelerated Logistics Phase 2&3 EPSRC 01/09/2018-30/11/2019 £127,719
Desmulliez Low T, low P bonding of ultrasound transducer arrays singulated using femtosecond machining EPSRC 01/03/2018-
31/05/2019 £87,211
Donaldson 3QN: Towards A New UK Industry for Novel Quantum Receivers in Nascent Satellite QKD Global Markets Innovate UK 01/11/2018-
31/03/2021 £195,454
Donaldson RAEng Fellowship: A mobile optical ground station receiver for satellite-based quantum communication
Royal Academy of Engineering
30/11/2018-29/11/2023 £486,690
Esser CDTAP (May-Wilson)-Rofin-Short pulse lasers for machining composite materials
Rofin-Sinar Uk Ltd
01/09/2018-31/08/2023 £50,000
Esser Leonardo Support for CIM-Laser High-energy pulsed 2µm oscillator-amplifier demonstrators Leonardo UK 01/01/2018-
31/05/2019 £40,000
Esser Studentship - Design of ultra-compact 2 micron solid state lasers Leonardo UK 01/01/2018-31/12/2020 £30,000
Esser RAEng: Regional Engagement Awards (Esser) Royal Academy of Engineering
01/03/2018-28/02/2021 £75,000
Fedrizzi PHASE TWO - Wide-angle receivers for long-distance free-space QKD EPSRC 01/05/2018-
31/10/2019 £167,840
Gerardot 2DQP: European Commission
01/01/2018-31/12/2022 £1,262,877
Gerardot S2QUIP European Commission
01/10/2018-30/09/2021 £328,100
Gerardot Chair in Emerging Technologies Royal Academy of Engineering
01/03/2018-29/02/2028 £1,300,000
Gerardot Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition EPSRC 01/02/2018-31/12/2019 £20,000
IPaQS Annual Report 201822
Name Project Title Sponsor Dates Value
Halimi RAEng Fellowship: Advanced Computational Methods For Smart and Extreme Imaging
Royal Academy of Engineering
01/10/2018-30/09/2023 £492,822
Hand Renishaw I-CASE PhD studentship support Sam McArthur (R Thomson supervisor) 2018 start Renishaw PLC 01/10/2018-
30/09/2022 £26,500
Hand ULTRAfast laser WELDding of highly dissimilar materials – development of a truly industrial process Innovate UK 01/01/2018-
30/06/2020 £274,948
Kar Goal of 10GHz Mode Locked Mid-IR Microchip Waveguide Lasers EOARD European Office
of Aerospace Research and Development
15/06/2018-14/06/2021
£42,553
Leach Nano-scale imaging with Hong-Ou-Mandel Interferometry EPSRC 01/03/2018-28/02/2021
£271,514
Malik QuompleX: Quantum Information Processing with Complex Media
FWF Austrian Science Fund
01/10/2018-31/01/2021
£92,138
Malik EPSRC: Putting Chaos to Work: Multi-Photon Entanglement in Complex Scattering Media
EPSRC 15/05/2018-14/05/2023
£1,191,690
McCracken Innovate UK - Compact quantum random number generation Innovate UK 01/03/2018-28/02/2019
£71,589
Moore PBF process fundamentals for healthcare applications EPSRC 01/10/2018-30/09/2019
£51,659
Reid PISTACHIO: Photonic Imaging Strategies for Technical Art History and Conservation
EPSRC 01/08/2018-01/02/2022
£824,120
Thomson STFC DTP (Letter offer received July 2017) STFC 01/09/2018 31/08/2022-
£74,539
Thomson Through-body TCSPC for locating medical devices STFC 01/10/2018-31/03/2021
£315,108
Thomson PhoG European Commission
01/11/2018-31/10/2021
£764,447
Thomson Laser refrigeration on the nanoscale: From nanocryostats to quantum optomechanics
EPSRC 01/10/2018-30/09/2022
£335,592
Townsend Novel Non-linear Optical-Fibre Sources for Time-resolved Molecular Dynamics: Towards the Next Generation of
Ultrafast Spectroscopy
EPSRC 14/04/2018-15/10/2021
£588,865
Travers CDTAP (Quinn)-STFC-Development of a diode-pumped solid-state laser system operating at 10 J, 100 Hz
STFC 01/09/2018-31/08/2022
£50,000
Much of the research in IPAQS is collaborative with industry, leading to opportunities for impact beyond the academic community.
23
IPaQS Annual Report 201824
PUBLICATIONS, PATENTS AND AWARDS
A. Huang, S. Barz, E. Andersson and V. Makarov, Implementation vulnerabilities in general quantum cryptography, New Journal of Physics 20, 103016 (2018)
R. Amiri, A. Abidin, P. Wallden and E. Andersson, Efficient unconditionally secure signatures using universal hashing, In: Preneel B., Vercauteren F. (eds) Applied Cryptography and Network Security. ACNS 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10892. Springer, Cham
R. Hayward and F. Biancalana, Complex Berry phase dynamics in PT-symmetric coupled waveguides, 20 Nov 2018, In: Physical Review A. 98, 5, 053833
R. Hayward and F. Biancalana, Constructing new nonlinear evolution equations with supersymmetry, 4 Jun 2018, In: Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical. 51, 27, 275202
L. Di Mauro Villari, I. Galbraith and F. Biancalana, Coulomb effects in the absorbance spectra of two-dimensional Dirac materials, 15 Nov 2018, In: Physical Review B. 98, 20, 205402
D. N. Carvalho, F. Biancalana and A. Marini, Nonlinear optical effects of opening a gap in graphene 14 May 2018, In: Physical Review B. 97, 19, 195123 L. Di Mauro Villari, D. Faccio, F. Biancalana and C. Conti, Quantum soliton evaporation, 31 Oct 2018, In: Physical Review A. 98, 4, 043859
D. Vocke, C. Maitland, A. Prain, K. E. Wilson, F. Biancalana, E. M. Wright, F. Marino and D. Faccio, Rotating black hole geometries in a two-dimensional photon superfluid, 10 Sep 2018, In: Optica. 5, 9, p. 1099-1103 5 p.
D. Faccio and F. Biancalana, Shining light on an old problem, 26 Apr 2018, In: Nature Photonics. 12, 5, p. 257-259 3 p.
A. Dréau, A. Tcheborateva, A. E. Mahdaoui, C. Bonato and R. Hanson, Quantum Frequency Conversion of Single Photons from a Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond to Telecommunication Wavelengths, Physical Review Applied 9, 064031 (2018)
R. Nagy, M. Widmann, M. Niethammer, D. B. R. Dasari, I. Gerhardt, Ö. O. Soykal, M. Radulaski, T. Ohshima, J. Vučković, N. T. Son, I. G. Ivanov, S. E. Economou, C. Bonato, S.-Y. Lee and J. Wrachtrup, Quantum Properties of Dichroic Silicon Vacancies in Silicon Carbide, Physical Review Applied 9, 034022 (2018)
X. Ren, Y. Altmann, R. Tobin, A. McCarthy, S. McLaughlin and G. S. Buller, Wavelength-time coding for multispectral 3D imaging using single-photon LiDAR, Optics Express, 26,(23), pp30146-30161 (2018) Y. Altmann, A. Maccarone, A. McCarthy, S. McLaughlin and G. S. Buller, Spectral Classification of Sparse Photon Depth Images, Optics Express, 26(5), p5514 (2018)
X Ren, P. W. R. Connolly, A. Halimi, Y. Altmann, S. McLaughlin, I. Gyongy, R. K. Henderson and G. S. Buller, High-resolution depth profiling using a range-gated Si CMOS SPAD quanta image sensor, Optics Express, 26(5), p5541 (2018)
X. Zang, F. Dong, F. Yue, C. Zhang, L. Xu, Z. Song, M. Chen, P. Chen, G. S. Buller, Y. Zhu, S. Zhuang, W. Chu, S. Zhang and X. Chen, Polarization Encoded Color Image Embedded in a Dielectric Metasurface, Adv. Materials, 30, 1707499 (May 2018)
K. L. Wlodarczyk, R. M. Carter, A. Jahanbakhsh, A. A. Lopes, M. D. Mackenzie, R. R. J. Maier, D. P. Hand and M. M. Maroto-Valer, Rapid Laser Manufacturing of Microfluidic Devices from Glass Substrates, 17 Aug 2018, In: Micromachines. 9, 8, 409
Z. Li, W. Liu, Z. Li, C. Tang, H. Cheng, J. Li, X. Chen, S. Chen and J. Tian, Tripling the Capacity of Optical Vortices by Nonlinear Metasurface, Laser Photonics Review, 1800164 (2018)
C. Zhang, D. Wen, F. Yue, Y. Intaravanne, W. Wang and X. Chen, Optical Metasurface Generated Vector Beam for Anticounterfeiting, Physical Review Applied, 10, 034028 (2018)
D. Wen, F. Yue, W. Liu, S. Chen and X. Chen, Geometric metasurface and its application in ultrathin optical devices, Advanced Optical Materials, 2018, DOI:10.1002/adom.201800348
25
Journal Articles
IPaQS Annual Report 201826
Z. Guo, X. Chen and T. Zentgraf, Editorial for the Theories and Applications of Metasurfaces, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 51, 150201 (2018)
Z. Zhang, D. Wen, C. Zhang, M. Chen, W. Wang, S. Chen and X. Chen, Multifunctional light sword metasurface lens, ACS Photonics, 2018. DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01536
Y. Liu, J. Xu, S. Xiao, X. Chen and J. Li, Metasurface Approach to External Cloak and Designer Cavities, ACS Photonics, 5, 1749 (2018)
R. J. Donaldson, L. Mazzarella, R. J. Collins, J. Jeffers and G. S. Buller, A high gain and high fidelity coherent state comparison amplifier, Communications Physics 1, Article number 54 (2018) A. Berrou, O. J. P. Collett, D. Morris and M. J. D. Esser, Comparative study of high power Tm:YLF and Tm:LLF slab lasers in continuous wave regime, 16 Apr 2018, In: Optics Express. 26, 8, p. 10559-10572 14 p.
F. Graffitti, P. Barrow, M. Proietti, D. Kundys and A. Fedrizzi, Independent high-purity photons created in domain-engineered crystals, Optica 5, 514-517, 2018
M. Ringbauer, T. R. Bromley, M. Cianciaruso, L. Lami, S. Lau, G. Adesso, A. G. White, A. Fedrizzi and M. Piani, Certification and quantification of multilevel quantum coherence, Physical Review X 8, 041007, 2018
F. Costa, M. Ringbauer, M. E. Goggin, A. G. White and A. Fedrizzi, A unifying framework for spatial and temporal quantum correlations, Physical Review A 98, 012328, 2018
M. Ringbauer, F. Costa, M. E. Goggin, A. G. White and A. Fedrizzi, Multi-time correlations with no spatial analogue, Nature Partner Journal, Quantum Information 4, 37, 2018 F. Graffitti, J. Kelly-Massicotte, A. Fedrizzi and A. Branczyk, Design considerations for high-purity heralded single-photon sources, Physical Review A 98, 053811, 2018
E. G. Carnemolla, L. Caspani, C. DeVault, M. Clerici, S. Vezzoli, V. Bruno, V. M. Shalaev, D. Faccio, A. Boltasseva and M. Ferrera, Degenerate optical nonlinear enhancement in epsilon-near-zero transparent conducting oxides, 5 Oct 2018, In: Optical Materials Express
J. Kim, E. G. Carnemolla, C. DeVault, A. M. Shaltout, D. Faccio, V. M. Shalaev, A. V. Kildishev, M. Ferrera and A. Boltasseva, Dynamic Control of Nanocavities with Tunable Metal Oxides, 14 Feb 2018, In: Nano Letters. 18, 2, p. 740-746 7 p.
S. Vezzoli, V. Bruno, C. DeVault, T. Roger, V. M. Shalaev, A. Boltasseva, M. Ferrera, M. Clerici, A. Dubietis and D. Faccio, Optical Time Reversal from Time-Dependent Epsilon-Near-Zero Media, 26 Jan 2018, In: Physical Review Letters. 120, 4, 043902
S. Joshi and, Exceptional points and dynamics of an asymmetric non-Hermitian two-level system, 17 Oct 2018, In: Physical Review A 98, 4, 6 p., 042117
G. C. Knee, E. Bolduc, J. Leach and E. M. Gauger, Quantum process tomography via completely positive and trace-preserving projection, Physical Review A 98 062336 (2018)
J. K. Sowa, J. A. Mol, G. A. D. Briggs and E. M. Gauger, Beyond Marcus theory and the Landauer-Büttiker approach in molecular junctions: A unified framework, The Journal of Chemical Physics 149, 154112 (2018)
D. Scerri, R. N. E. Malein, B. D. Gerardot and E. M. Gauger, Frequency-encoded linear cluster states with coherent Raman photons, Physical Review A 98 022318 (2018). Selected for inclusion in PRA Kaleidoscopes
A. Lyons, G. C. Knee, E. Bolduc, T. Roger, J. Leach, E. M. Gauger and D. Faccio, Attosecond-Resolution Hong-Ou-Mandel Interferometry, Science Advances 4 eaap9416 (2018)
J. K. Sowa, J. A. Mol, G. A. D. Briggs and E. M. Gauger, Spiro-Conjugated Molecular Junctions: between Jahn-Teller Distortion and Destructive Quantum Interference, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 9 1859 (2018)
L. C. Flatten, L. Weng, A. Branny, S. Johnson, P. R. Dolan, A. a. P. Trichet, B. D. Gerardot and J. M. Smith, Microcavity enhanced single photon emission from two-dimensional WSe2, Appl. Phys. Lett. 112, 191105 (2018) H. D. Saleh, S. Vezzoli, L. Caspani, A. Branny, S. Kumar, B. D. Gerardot and D. Faccio, Towards spontaneous parametric down conversion from monolayer MoS 2, Scientific Reports 8, 3862 (2018)
Journal Articles
27
F. Yue, C. Zhang, X. Zang, D. Wen, B. D. Gerardot, S. Zhang and X. Chen, High-resolution grayscale image hidden in a laser beam, Light: Science and Applications 7, e17129 (2018)
R. Carter, P. Morawska and D. P. Hand, Breakthrough in Welding Highly Dissimilar Materials, 10 Aug 2018, The Laser User, Summer 2018, 89, p. 24-25 2 p. Y. Tian, W. S. Góra, A. Pan Cabo, L. L. Parimi, D. P. Hand, S. Tammas-Williams and P. B. Prangnell, Material interactions in laser polishing powder bed additive manufactured Ti6Al4V components, Mar 2018, In: Additive Manufacturing. 20, p. 11-22 12 p.
R. Geremia, D. Karnakis and D. P. Hand, Sep 2018, The role of laser pulse overlap in ultrafast thin film structuring applications, In: Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing. 124, 9, 641
O. T. Brown and M. J. Hartmann, Localization to delocalization transition in a driven nonlinear cavity array, New J. Phys. 20, 055004 (2018)
E. T. Owen, J. Jin, D. Rossini, R. Fazio and M. J. Hartmann, Quantum correlations and limit cycles in the driven-dissipative Heisenberg lattice, New J. Phys. 20, 045004 (2018)
A. Rodenas, M. Gu, G. Corrielli, P. Paiè, S. John, A. K. Kar and R. Osellame, Three-dimensional femtosecond laser nanolithography of crystals, 31 Dec 2018, In: Nature Photonics J. M. Morris, M. D. Mackenzie, C. R. Petersen, G. Demetriou, A. K. Kar, O. Bang and H. T. Bookey, Ge22As20Se58 glass ultrafast laser inscribed waveguides for mid-IR integrated optics, 1 Apr 2018, In: Optical Materials Express. 8, 4, p. 1001-1011 11 p.
P. Caramazza, K. Wilson, G. Gariépy, J. Leach, S. McLaughlin, D. Faccio and Y. Altmann, Enhancing the recovery of a temporal sequence of images using joint deconvolution, 27 Mar 2018, In: Scientific Reports. 8, 5257
A. Lyons, T. Roger, N. Westerberg, S. Vezzoli, C. Maitland, J. Leach, M. J. Padgett and D. Faccio, How fast is a twisted photon?, 20 Jun 2018, In: Optica. 5, 6, p. 682-686 5 p.
B. J. Wolf, J. A. S. Morton, W. N. MacPherson and S. M. Van Netten, Bio-inspired all-optical artificial neuromast for 2D flow sensing, Mar 2018, In: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics. 13, 2, 026013
G. Anastasiadi, M. Leonard, L. Paterson and W. N. MacPherson, Fabrication and characterization of machined multi-core fiber tweezers for single cell manipulation, 1 Feb 2018, In: Optics Express. 26, 3, p. 3557-3567
J. Li, Y. X. Zhou, Y. X. Guo, G. Y. Wang, R. R. J. Maier, D. P. Hand and W. N. MacPherson, Label-free ferrule-top optical fiber micro-cantilever biosensor, 23 Jul 2018, In : Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
R. A. McCracken, F. Graffitti and A. Fedrizzi, Numerical investigation of mid-infrared single photons, Journal of the Optical Society of America B 35 C38-C48 (2018)
I. Bitharas, N. A. McPherson, W. McGhie, D. Roy and A. J. Moore, Visualisation and optimisation of shielding gas coverage during MIG welding, Journal of Materials Processing Technology 255 451–462 (2018)
P. Bidare, I. Bitharas, M. Ward, M. M. Attallah and A. J. Moore, Fluid and particle dynamics in laser powder bed fusion, Acta Materialia 142 107–120 (2018)
P. Bidare, I. Bitharas, R. M. Ward, M. M. Attallah and A. J. Moore, Laser powder bed fusion at sub-atmospheric pressures, International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture 130–131 65–72 (2018) P. Bidare, I. Bitharas, R. M. Ward, M. M. Attallah and A. J. Moore, Laser powder bed fusion in high-pressure atmospheres, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 1-13 (2018)
C. W. Duncan, P. Öhberg and M. Valiente, Exact edge, bulk, and bound states of finite topological systems, 24 May 2018, In: Physical Review B. 97, 19, 195439
R. Dingwall, M. J. Edmonds, J. L. Helm, B. A. Malomed and P. Öhberg, Non-integrable dynamics of matter-wave solitons in a density-dependent gauge theory, Apr 2018, In: New Journal of Physics. 20, 4, 043004
IPaQS Annual Report 201828
K. E. Wilson, N. Westerberg, M. Valiente, C. W. Duncan, E. M. Wright, P. Öhberg and D. Faccio, Observation of Photon Droplets and Their Dynamics, 27 Sep 2018, In: Physical Review Letters. 121, 13, 133903
N. Westerberg, K. E. Wilson, C. W. Duncan, D. Faccio, E. M. Wright, P. Öhberg and M. Valiente, Self-bound droplets of light with orbital angular momentum, 21 Nov 2018, In: Physical Review A. 98, 5, 053835 J. Li, N. H. Le, K. L. Litvinenko, S. K. Clowes, H. E. Engelkamp, S. G. Pavlov, H-W. Hubers, V. B. Shuman, L. M. N. Portsel, A. N. Lodygin, Yu. A. Astrov, N. B. Abrosimov, C. R. Pidgeon, A. Fisher, Z. Zeng, Y-M. Niquet and B. N. Murdin, Radii of Rydberg states of isolated silicon donors, Phys. Rev. B98, 085423 (2018) M. A. W. van Loon, N. Stavrias, N. H. Le, K. L. Litvinenko, P. T. Greenland, C. R. Pidgeon, K. Saeedi, B. Redlich, G. Aeppli and B. N. Murdin, Giant multiphoton absorption for THz resonances in silicon hydrogenic donors, Nature Photonics 12, 179-184 (2018)
L. Maidment, O. Kara, P. G. Schunemann, J. Piper, K. J. McEwan and D. T. Reid, Long-wave infrared generation from femtosecond and picosecond optical parametric oscillators based on orientation-patterned gallium phosphide, Jul 2018, In: Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics. 124, 7, 143 L. Maidment, P. G. Schunemann, R. J. Clewes, M. D. Bowditch, C. R. Howle and D. T. Reid, Systematic spectral shifts in the mid-infrared spectroscopy of aerosols, 23 Jul 2018, In: Optics Express. 26, 15, p. 18975-18981 7 p.
L. Maidment, P. G. Schunemann and D. T. Reid, White powder identification using broadband coherent light in the molecular fingerprint region, 17 Sep 2018, In: Optics Express. 26, 19, p. 25364-25369
M. F. Saleh, Quasi-phase-matched χ(3) parametric interactions in sinusoidally tapered waveguides, Phys. Rev. A 97, 013850 (2018)
J. Li, T. Wasley, T. Duong, J. Shephard, J. Stringer, P. J. Smith, E. Esenturk, C. Connaughton, R. Harris and R. Kay, Micro Electronic Systems via Multifunctional Additive Manufacturing, 2018, In: Rapid Prototyping Journal. 24, 4, p. 752-763 12 p.
H. Fleming, S. McAughtrie, B. Mills, M. G. Tanner, A. Marks and C. J. Campbell, Dual purpose fibre - SERS pH sensing and bacterial analysis, 21 Dec 2018, In: The Analyst. 143, 24, p. 5918-5925 8 p. S. Yerolatsitis, F. Yu, S. McAughtrie, M. G. Tanner, H. Fleming, J. M. Stone, C. J. Campbell, T. A. Birks and J. C. Knight, Ultra-low background Raman sensing using a negative-curvature fibre and no distal optics, 23 Oct 2018, In: Journal of Biophotonics. e201800239
S. Mukherjee, M. Di Liberto, P. Öhberg, R. R. Thomson and N. Goldman, Experimental observation of Aharonov-Bohm cages in photonic lattices, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 075502 (2018)
C. Cantillano, S. Mukherjee, L. Morales-Inostroza, B. Real, G. Cáceres-Aravena, C. Hermann-Avigliano, R. R. Thomson and R. A. Vicencio, Observation of localized ground and excited orbitals in graphene photonic ribbons, New J. Phys. 20, 033028 (2018)
S. Mukherjee, H. K. Chandrasekharan, P. Öhberg, N. Goldman and R. R. Thomson, State-recycling and time-resolved imaging in topological photonic lattices, Nat. Commun. 9, 4209 (2018) H. L. Butcher, D. G. MacLachlan, D. Lee, R. R. Thomson and D. Weidmann, Ultrafast laser-inscribed mid-infrared evanescent field directional couplers in GeAsSe chalcogenide glass, OSA Continuum 1, 221-228 (2018)
H. L. Butcher, D. G. MacLachlan, D. Lee, R. R. Thomson and D. Weidmann, Demonstration and characterization of ultrafast laser-inscribed mid-infrared waveguides in chalcogenide glass IG2, Opt. Express 26, 10930-10943 (2018)
Journal Articles
29
C. A. Ross, D. G. MacLachlan, D. Choudhury and R. R. Thomson, Optimisation of ultrafast laser assisted etching in fused silica, Opt. Express 26, 24343-24356 (2018)
Th. Anagnos, R. J. Harris, M. K. Corrigan, A. P. Reeves, M. J. Townson, D. G. MacLachlan, R. R. Thomson, T. J. Morris, C. Schwab and A. Quirrenbach, Simulation and optimization of an astrophotonic reformatter, Mon. Notices Royal Astron. Soc. 478, 4881-4889 (2018) L. Labadie, S. Minardi, G. Martın and R. R. Thomson, Progress towards instrument miniaturisation for mid- IR long- baseline interferometry, Experimental Astronomy 46, 433-445 (2018)
O. Ghafur, S. W. Crane, M. Ryszka, J. Bockova, A. Rebelo, L. Saalbach, S. De Camillis, J. B. Greenwood, S. Eden and D. Townsend, Ultraviolet relaxation dynamics in uracil: Time-resolved photoion yield studies using a laser-based thermal desorption source, J. Chem. Phys., 149, 034301, (2018)
O. Schalk, D. Townsend, T. J. A. Wolf, D. M. P. Holland, A. E. Boguslavskiy, M. Szöri and A. Stolow, Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of nitrobenzene and its aldehydes, Chem. Phys. Lett, 691, 379, (2018)
F. Belli, A. Abdolvand, J. C. Travers and P. St J. Russell, Control of ultrafast pulses in a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber by Raman coherence, Phys. Rev. A 97, 013814 (2018) Z. Sun, S. Jiang, A. Martinez, D. Tang and J. C. Travers, Introduction to the Special Issue on Fiber Lasers, in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1-2, May-June 2018, Art no. 0200502
D. C. Louie, J. Phillips, L. Tchvialeva, S. Kalia, H. Lui, W. Wang and T. K. Lee, Degree of optical polarization as a tool for detecting melanoma: proof of principle, Dec 2018, In: Journal of Biomedical Optics. 23, 12, 125004
IPaQS Annual Report 201830
Publications List
Book Chapters
Dr R. A. McCracken: ‘SALT as an instrument tester: the experimental laser frequency comb’, Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) Annual Report 2017.
31
EditorshipsNew Awards, Prizes and Fellowships
Dr Cristian Bonato has been awarded a 5 year EPSRC Early-Career Research Fellowship. The fellowship will enable the development of a quantum memory based on individual electronic and nuclear spins in silicon carbide. Silicon carbide, a material widely used by the microelectronics industry, will enable, for the first time, to integrate spintronic, electronic and photonic functionalities on a single device. The grant will fund new facilities to equip the Quantum Photonics Lab to investigate single spins in a wide temperature range (from T=3.5K to room temperature) with high-fidelity sequences of optical and microwave pulses.
Dr Maria Ana Cataluna was selected as a Member of the Technical Programme sub-Committee for Semiconductor Lasers, CLEO/Europe 2019.
Dr Maria Ana Cataluna was accepted as a Member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland.
Dr Maria Ana Cataluna was selected to become a member of AcademiaNet.
Dr Robert J Collins won the ‘Heriot-Watt University Principal’s Public Engagement Prize 2018’.
Dr Ross Donaldson was awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Early Career Research Fellowship, 2018 -2023, ‘Practical Optical Ground Station Receivers for Satellite-Based Quantum Communication’.
Dr Erik Gauger was accepted as a Member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland.
Dr Michael Hartmann was awarded a prestigious Visiting Researcher position at Google through the Google Visiting Faculty Program.
Dr Michael Hartmann was awarded the FET open grant ‘Quromorphic’ as coordinator. The Neuromorphic Quantum Computing (Quromorphic) Project aims to build a computer processor that transfers data in the same way neurons work in the human brain.
Professor Erika Andersson - associate editor for Quantum Information for Physical Review A (since 2015).
Dr Cristian Bonato - editorial board of Scientific Reports.
Professor GS Buller - guest editor ‘Photon Counting Technologies’ Special Section, Optical Engineering Journal (publication date May 2018).
Dr Maria Ana Cataluna - editorial board of Scientific Reports.
Dr Xianzhong Chen - guest editor on special issue on metasurfaces, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.
Professor Andrew Moore - editorial board of Optics and Lasers in Engineering.
Dr John Travers - editorial board of the Journal of Physics: Photonics.
Patents
‘Single-photon avalanche diode detector, method for use therefore and method of its manufacture’ P. Vines, K. Kuzmenko, J. Kirdoda, D. D. S. Dumas, M. M. Mirza, R. W. Millar, D. J. Paul and G. S. Buller, Application No: 1814688.6.
‘Improvements in or relating to laser based machining’ P. Blair, C. Courtney, T. Parsonage, A. Lopes, K. L. Wlodarczyk and D. P. Hand, European patent no: 18214474.1 - 1016, filed 20 December 2018.
‘An instrument and principle to image through tissue to determine the location of an optic fibre endoscope’ M.G. Tanner, 1611819.2 UK filing 7/7/2016 PCT/GB2017/052005 7/7/2017 WO2018007829A1 11/01/2018.
‘Multiple point source illumination for inserted medical devices such as NG tubes’, M. G. Tanner, 1800340.0 UK filing 9/1/2018 PCT filing 9/1/2019 (patent not yet formally published).
‘Optical system and method’, R. R. Thomson, WO2018GB51214 20180504.
‘Imaging method and apparatus’, R. R. Thomson WO2017GB52005 20170707.
‘Direct laser writing and chemical etching and optical devices’, R. R. Thomson WO2018GB50195 20180124.
IPaQS Annual Report 201832
PhD AND EngD STUDENTS
33
PhD Students
Surname Forename Email Project Title
Anastasiadi Georgia [email protected] Machined multicore optical fibres for on-chip optical manipulation
Baker Aneirin [email protected] operations and simulations of lattice gauge theories
with superconducting qubits
Ballesteros-Garcia
Guillem [email protected] generation and collection of indistinguishable
single photons
Barrow Peter [email protected] Photonic cluster state computing
Brown William [email protected] Vibrationally assisted quantum optical effects in collective systems
Buggy Yvan [email protected] properties of non-linear gauge coupled quantum
fluids
Burton Alexander [email protected] control in the additive manufacturing (3D printing) of
metals
Campbell Aidan [email protected] light-matter interaction with two-dimensional
semiconductor crystals
Canning David [email protected] Quantum digital signatures and quantum amplifiers
Carnemolla Enrico [email protected] nonlinearities in epsilon-near-zero transparent
conductive oxides for applications in nanophotonics
Chan Susan [email protected] Hidden-object tracking with single-photon detectors
Chen Yang [email protected] hollow fibers with polygonal cores and pulse
propagation in twisted fibers
Cheng Yuk Shan [email protected] broadband optical parametrc oscillator
frequency combs
Coates Alexandre [email protected] Harvesting light beyond classical limits
Collett Oliver [email protected] High average power 2µm amplifiers and laser systems
Connolly Peter [email protected] Next generation imaging using sparse single-photon data
Craigie Karen [email protected] Spin-photon interfacing in silicon carbide
Crickmore Jonathan [email protected] Quantum digital signatures
Davidson Scott [email protected] theoretic optimisation of energy transport in molecular
networks
Di Mauro Villari Leone [email protected] New physics of 2D materials with Dirac-like dispersion
Dingwall Robert [email protected] Soliton dynamics in interacting gauge theories
Dondieu Stephen [email protected] quality, high speed engraving using high average power
nanosecond pulsed fibre lasers
Duncan Callum [email protected] Topological and unconventional states of matter
Ehrlich Katjana [email protected] fibre optic sensing with CMOS SPAD line arrays for
biomedical applications
Fitzgerald Liam [email protected] gravity approach to the electronic properties of curved
graphene
Graffitti Francesco [email protected] Hybrid photonic quantum technology
Greener Zoe [email protected] Si-on-Ge SPAD technology
Greenwood Harrison [email protected] the spectral properties of single photons using
inhomogeneous waveguides
IPaQS Annual Report 201834
PhD Students
Surname Forename Email Project Title
Grigorova Teodora [email protected] Ultrafast nonlinear optics in gas-filled hollow-core waveguides
Hann Samuel [email protected] novel approach to manufacturing lasers using ultrafast
laser welding
Hayward Rosie [email protected] field theory/particle physics analogues in
nonlinear optics
Intaravanne Yuttana [email protected] for developing novel photonic devices with
unusual functionalities
Johnstone Dean [email protected] Topology of strongly correlated systems
Joshi Sharad [email protected] analysis of photon echo and exceptional points
dynamics in lossy quantum systems
Kaipurath Rishad [email protected] based models for cosmological expansion using
nonlinear optics
Kamaljith Vikram [email protected] 3D photonic structures for advanced
biomedic endoscopy
Kelly Christy [email protected] Ising model: a universal framework in condensed matter physics
Koong Zak [email protected] teleportation with a telecom wavelength
spin-photon interface
Kuzmenko Kateryna [email protected] Integrated Ge-on-Si SPADs on Si platforms
Laini Micaela [email protected] Two dimensional integrated quantum photonics
Lekosiotis Athanasios [email protected] Ultrafast nonlinear optics in gas-filled hollow-core waveguides
Lopes Amiel [email protected] Picosecond laser micro-machining of glass for optics manufacture
Macleod Nathan [email protected] Digital manufacturing of industrial lasers
Madden Gillian [email protected] laser inscription of mid-infrared guided wave components
for astronomical interferometry
Maitland-Warne Calum [email protected] and quantum field theory analogues in condensed
matter physics and nonlienar optics
Matin Amirali [email protected] Novel real-time imaging system
Mavridou Parthena [email protected] and characterisation of 11-VI overlays integrated with Ill-VI
device structures
McArthur Sam [email protected] ultrafast laser processing processes using
structured light
McDonald Mark [email protected] Laser post-processing of metal additively manufactured parts
McNicholl Duncan [email protected] Advanced microendoscopy modalities
McShane Eunan [email protected] Tracking medical devices using time-corrrelated single
photon counting imaging
Meckamalil Eldose
Nirosh [email protected] growth and epitaxial lift-off of II-VI semiconductors
for device applications
Mitchell Toby [email protected] Femtosecond frequency combs for precision distance metrology
Moore Chester [email protected] Fluids of light
Morris Daniel [email protected] 2 µm wavelength
oscillator-amplifier development
Morrison Christopher [email protected] Frequency conversion for quantum networking
35
Surname Forename Email Project Title
Nicoll Graeme [email protected] the interaction between laser parameters for ultra-fast
laser processing of glass
Novo Catarina [email protected] laser micromachining of hollow core negative
curvature fibres
Padinjaroottu Charinjathil
MohananSyam [email protected]
Picosecond laser procedures to enhance the efficacy of tissue resection
Papachristou Nikolitsa [email protected] of optical fibre curvature sensors for
subsea instrumentation
Picard Raphael [email protected] An artificial atom in a two-dimensional semiconductor
Pickston Alexander [email protected] Quantum communication with photonic cluster states
Pike Fraser [email protected] Precision photonic spectroscopy for astronomy and metrology
Prizia Radivoje [email protected] Photon fluids and photon condensation
Proietti Massimiliano [email protected] All-optical quantum networking
Reichmuth David [email protected] Quantum communication and quantum measurements
Ricketti Berke [email protected] Ultrafast sunlight emulator for quantum biology
Risbridger Donald [email protected] Novel technologies to enhance minimally invasive laser surgery
Robson Charles [email protected] Particle physics analogues in nonlinear optics
Ross Alex [email protected] Additive manufacture (3D printing) of metals
Ross Calum [email protected] laser assisted etching of fibre optic probes for
optical biopsy instruments
Ross David [email protected] effect of luminescent down shifting layers on thin
film solar cells
Saalbach Lisa [email protected] photoelectron imaging of model
biological chromophores
Sabbah Mohammed [email protected] nonlinear optics in hollow-core waveguides filled
with Raman active gases
Scerri Dale [email protected] state nanostructures as platforms for emerging quantum
technologies
Sidqi Najwa [email protected] Ultralow loss dielectric mirrors for quantum device microcavities
Siliprandi Jacopo [email protected] photonics using ultrafast laser inscribed
photonic lattices
Spracklen Alexander [email protected] investigation of transport phenomena in lattices using
waveguide arrays
Srivastava Anchit [email protected] - photonic imaging strategies for technical art history
and conservation
Thorburn Fiona [email protected] Chalcogenide photonics
Tkalcec Kimberly [email protected] Gain extraction of a multipass high energy amplifier
Tobin Rachael [email protected] quantum detection techniques for rapid acquisition of
high-resolution depth images
Tyler Max [email protected] SPAD array technologies for high-dimensional quantum systems
Valenti Rojas Gerard [email protected] Topology of strongly correlated systems
IPaQS Annual Report 201836
Surname Forename Email Project Title
Wang Kexin [email protected] Optical code based secure optical communication system
Westerberg Niclas [email protected] Superfluid analogues of gravity
White Daniel [email protected] Spin-active defects in SiC and diamond devices
Wu Shouyue [email protected] Hollow anti-resonant optical fibres for high power laser applications
Zanforlin Ugo [email protected] communications: quantum digital signatures and
quantum amplifiers
Zhang Chunmei [email protected] control of polarisation and phase of light
with meta-surface
PhD Students
37
Surname Forename Programme Thesis Title
Agnew Megan PhD The spatial state of non-interacting photons
Amiri Ryan PhD Practical unconditionally secure signature schemes and related protocols
Bidare Prveen PhDAn-open architecture metal powder bed fusion system and its use for
in-situ process monitoring
Bitharas Ioannis EngD Visualisation of shielding gas flows during high-value manufacturing
Bolduc Eliot PhD Directly measuring quantum and classical systems
Branny Artur PhDSpectroscopy and accurate spatial positioning of quantum emitters hosted
by two-dimensional semiconductors
Brown Oliver PhD Games for quantum research
Carvalho David PhD Table top particle physics with graphene
Charsley JakeMSc by
ResearchWide-mode-spacing broadband laser frequency combs for astronomy
Crane Stuart PhD Time resolved spectroscopy of non volatile biomolecule analogues
Diederich Gilles PhD Strain measurements with GHz and THz radiation
Dzipalski Adrian PhD Photonic devices for sensing and security applications
Etieve DannyMSc by
ResearchStress analysis of ceramic thermal barrier coatings using THz instrumentation
Jha Nitin PhD Rare-earth elements doped novel photonics sources
Kara Oguzhan PhDMid-infrared dual comb spectroscopy with asynchronous optical
parametric oscillators
Kleczkowska Klaudia PhD Unambiguous quantum measurements for quantum communication
Kumar Pragati PhD Imaging and spectroscopy of solid-state quantum emitters
Kuzhikkattu Chandrasekharan
Harikumar PhD Time-resolved imaging of guided wave phenomena
Lisowska Aneta EngD Learning from limited data: three case studies in healthcare
Maidment Luke EngDCoherent sources and techniques for chemical sensing using
broadband mid-infrared light
Morris James EngD Microfabrication of photonic devices for mid infrared optical applications
Polyzos Dimitrios PhDLong-term stability tests of intrinsic Fabry-Perot optical fibre sensors
at high temperatures
Sameti Mahdi PhD Quantum simulation with periodically driven superconducting circuits
Sumskis Gediminas EngD High average power ultrashort pulse planar waveguide amplifier
Thesis Final Submissions 2018
IPaQS Annual Report 201838
Surname Forename/s Email Project Title
Ahmad Munadi [email protected] of the technologies and techniques required to
increase the repetition rate of high energy lasers
Blackwell Christopher [email protected] Holographic 3D displays
Cosgun Tamer [email protected] Development of fibre-based gas sensors for inaccessible locations
De Vido Mariastefania [email protected] and application of high-energy, high pulse
repetition rate diode-pumped solid state lasers
Del Bino Leonardo [email protected] Microresonator based optical frequency combs
Dyer Tom [email protected] and integration of optical interrogated diagnostics
with materials ageing experiments
Flaherty Natalie [email protected] Image processing for situational awareness in urban environments
Geremia Riccardo [email protected] Industrial laser microprocessing and process optimisation
Godoy Vilar Juan Pedro [email protected] Laser surface engineering for enhanced functional performance
Gore Ben [email protected] optics and aberrations correction for
super-resolution microscopy
Guo Yili [email protected] Non-linear optics for high power solid state lasers
Harrison Paul [email protected], production and characterisation of
laser-machined micro-optics
Hill Calum [email protected] Fibre laser technology for challenging applications
Horjkovs Vladimirs [email protected] Robust high dynamic range transducers for surface form and finish
Knights Matthew [email protected] of a one-step-interconnect process for CIGS based
thin-film photovoltaics
May-Wilson Gregory [email protected] Short pulse lasers for machining composite materials
Michalska Anna [email protected] Precision distance measurement for a harsh environment
Michie Benjamin [email protected] temperature and strain sensing within
metallic ALM structures
Mitchell Paul [email protected] guided-wave photonics for next generation
communications networks
Pocock Rowan [email protected] optical coupling solutions for datacenter transceiver
platforms
Quinn Gary [email protected] of a diode-pumped solid-state laser
system operating at 10 J, 100 Hz
Reilly Michael [email protected] power and high energy lasers: new materials, laser device
architectures and laser beam modelling
SmithNicholas-Alexander
[email protected] Compact wind LIDAR: towards hand held remote sensing of wind
Webb David [email protected] investigation and development of heavy metal free quantum
dot devices for use in the general lighting markets
Woodley Michael [email protected] Interaction between counter-propagating light
Wright Hollie [email protected] metrology for manufacturing II: developing
dual-comb distance metrology concepts and applications
EngD Students
39
OSA Student Chapter
OSA-IPaQS Society
Our society is an official Student Chapter of the Optical Society of America (OSA) based within Heriot-Watt’s Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences (IPaQs). We have also recently affiliated with the Institute of Physics (IOP) to enable networking across a broader range of research areas.
We aim to encourage cross-collaboration within the optics and photonics community, both at home and internationally, and provide a communication platform for postgraduate students and research staff working within (or simply interested in) these fields of research. Alongside this, we also engage in outreach activities in order to promote an interest in photonics and optics to the public. These aims help our members to develop further, both personally and as professional scientists.
By providing lab tours, often led by other students and early-career researchers, we encourage networking and communication between distinct (and occasionally interdisciplinary) research groups, and allow the tour leaders to present their work to a wider audience.
This is a fantastic opportunity for them to boost their presentation skills and gain experience in responding to scientific queries.
Within the past year, we have run numerous social events within the department, and plan to run even more! These events allow the department to network further, and help bolster their working relationships. We also organise an annual department BBQ in the summer, since beer is always a good catalyst to “scientific” discussion! Our committee are actively involved in organising the weekly coffee and doughnuts morning break, and you can see some of our members at this coffee break in the photograph.
Outreach events we have been involved in over the past year include Midlothian Science Festival, Haddington Science Festival, the IOP Festival of Physics, and the Space themed “Science Late” at Glasgow Science Centre. At Christmas we ran a successful bake sale for the UNHCR “Give refugee children a chance to learn” charity, raising £81.
IPaQS Annual Report 201840
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
41
Centre for Doctoral Training in Applied Photonics
2018 has been an important year for the CDT. In September 2018 we welcomed our fifth and final cohort of Research Engineers to our CDT. We are also delighted to report the first of our CDT students submitted their thesis in 2018 and we look forward to their graduations in 2019.
In June, we held our second biennial international summer school in St Andrews (pictured). The Schools focus this year was Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Photonics and we were delighted to welcome Professor Sir David Payne from Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre as keynote speaker. In December we received the news that our re-bid for continued funding of the CDT was successful, being among the 25% of existing CDTs to receive continued funding. The new Centre will maintain the “CDT Applied Photonics” brand, but will have an explicit emphasis on industrially inspired photonic imaging, sensing and analysis. We look forward to an exciting future as the Centre evolves over the next 8 years.
Our students continue to take an active role in advocating for the programme and contributing to
shape the STEM community. Vladimirs Horjkovs was appointed as Research Engineer Representative to the Association of Engineering Doctorates (AEngD Steering Group). Hollie Wright was also appointed to the WISE Young Members board.
Mariastefania De Vido was awarded the prestigious Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Industrial Fellowship. Stefania is now the second CDT in Applied Photonics student to receive the award. Christopher Blackwell was invited to present some of his research and represent his company sponsor, Holoxica at the Science for a Successful Nation Exhibit. The success of this presentation, lead to an invitation for Christopher to represent EPSRC UKRI research in Washington DC in early 2019. Our third year students presented their research at Glasgow Science as part of a public engagement workshop. In November five of our Research Engineers took part in the WES Lottie tour, aimed at engaging young children in STEM subjects (pictured).
For more information on the CDT in Applied Photonics, please visit the CDT website: www.cdtphotonics.hw.ac.uk
The CM-CDT is a doctoral training partnership between SUPA Condensed Matter physics activities at Heriot-Watt, St Andrews and Edinburgh Universities. The CM-CDT has a threefold purpose: to provide students with a rigorous, broad graduate education across the spectrum of Condensed Matter Physics; to train them in skills that equip them for the workplace, be it industrial or academic; and to foster a vibrant, diverse research environment for their PhD projects. This endeavor is supported by EPSRC, University, Scottish Funding Council and other funding sources.
Students perform a PhD research project, take graduate level courses integrated with the SUPA Graduate School, participate in summer schools, conferences, workshops, and receive skills training relevant to their future careers. We aspire to produce well-rounded graduates equipped to lead in research, academia, and a wide range of industries and businesses.
First destinations of our graduates are shown in the pie chart above and demonstrates the wide spread of careers available to well-rounded Doctoral graduates.
The CM-CDT runs an Industrial placement programme funded by SUPA and EPSRC. Students benefit from placements with the CM-CDT Industrial Associates ranging from 2 weeks to 3 months. These placements give students the opportunities to learn about working in industry and broadens their transferable skills.
For more information on all of the above and more, see: www.cm-cdt.supa.ac.uk.
IPaQS Annual Report 201842
CDT Condensed Matter
Industry
Central Facilities
Start-up company
Postdoc Research
Unknown
CM-CDT Student Destinations after PhD
43
MSc in Photonics and Optoelectronic Devices (POED)
This well-established 12-month MSc has students studying at St Andrews for semester one, Heriot-Watt in semester two, then a 3.5 month summer project that is usually undertaken in industry. This gives our students access to the broad and complementary range of photonics expertise at our two institutions. There are scholarships supported by ST Microelectronics and sponsorships from various companies for the projects and prizes. More information at www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/pg/taught-programmes/pod-physics. This is a very successful course. So far, we have graduated more than 550 students. All the students find suitable employment just after completing the course, both in academia and industry. We aim to accept on average 15 to 20 highly qualified students in the course. For more information contact: [email protected]
IPaQS Annual Report 201844
OUTREACH AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
45
Dr Cristian BonatoSiC quantum spintronics: towards quantum devices in a technological material at the Kavli Royal Society Centre, 5th November 2018.
Dr Erik GaugerOrbs (quantum inspired computer game) and Quantum Robin (VR/AR activity based on bird compass)- at the Glasgow Science Centre on 13th April 2018 as
part of its ‘Meet the Expert’ series (Quantum Robin)- as part of the EISF Family Fun Day on 14th April 2018
at Oriam- at the IOP Festival of Physics on 27th and 28th
November 2018 at Dynamic Earth
Professor Ajoy KarSeven interns (from different schools in Edinburgh) each spent one week in Professor Kar’s lab.
Atomic Architects‘Atomic Architects’ - at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibit in London
in July 2018- at the Edinburgh Science Festival on 14th April 2018- at the Explorathon Day/Door Open Day at the Lyell
Centre on 29th September 2018- at the IOP Festival of Physics on 27th and
28th November 2018 at Dynamic Earth
Single Photon GroupIn response to an open request from the Quantum City public engagement initiative, an electronic, interactive, quantum physics experiment for all the family demonstrator (MacroPhoton) was designed and built entirely at Heriot-Watt University by Dr Robert Collins and co-funded by the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences and the UK Quantum Technology Hub for Quantum Communications Technologies.
Throughout 2018 MacroPhoton acted as the exhibit for the communications topic in Quantum City public engagement initiative administered by the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme. This partnership facilitated its presence at a variety of events including: - Cheltenham Science Festival 2018 (2 days)- Glasgow Science Festival Imagines at Kelvingrove
(2 days)- New Scientist Live 2018 (2 days)- Institute of Physics’ Festival of Physics 2018 (2 days)
In addition to the Quantum City events, MacroPhoton was also demonstrated as part of the Quantum Communications Hub’s Quantum Technology School (QTS), the Quantum Technologies Public Dialogue launch event and independently at Explorathon 2018.
Outreach Events
IPaQS Annual Report 201846
Atomic ArchitectsRoyal Society Summer Science Exhibition, London, July 2018
Brian Gerardot, Ian Galbraith, Cristian Bonato, and Fabio Biancalana and their ‘Atomic Architects’ team from IPaQS took part in the prestigious Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in 2018, which celebrates the cutting edge of UK science. Seven fast-paced but enjoyable days were spent at the Royal Society in London chatting to visitors of all ages about the excitement of atomically thin crystals for discovering new science and making new technologies.
The Atomic Architects team created an interactive exhibit to engage all audiences. Visitors could isolate single sheets of atoms by exfoliating (or peeling off ) from a large crystal and examine their efforts with a microscope. Many visitors took a ‘selfie’ of their colourful crystals and emailed it to themselves for longevity. To help the visitors appreciate how many atomic layers they had exfoliated and why they were so colourful, a thin film interference demonstration was made using bubbles – a popular feature for younger visitors!
An eye-catching part of the exhibit was the large interactive moiré wheel which would spin a top sheet of and atomic crystal relative to the bottom layer to produce a mesmerizing display of moiré patterns. This model, along with some hand-held paper moiré images, helped explain how atomic spacing and patterns affect the electronic and optical properties of materials and how fine-tuning of the atomic layers can lead to entirely new materials.
The final exhibit was an atomically thin LED made by Raphael Picard, a PhD student in IPaQS. The LED was popular with visitors: it looked amazing and visitors could see and hold the actual device. This led to interesting discussions about the future uses of a wide range of applications, from LEDs to quantum technologies. The video game (Atomic Architects - available on Android Play and Apple App Store) showed the challenges an electron faces in crystals to produce light - a popular game for kids of all ages!
Overall it was a tiring but fantastic week which everyone enjoyed and we even made use of the great weather to do some sightseeing around the capital during our down-time.
I was at the Atomic Architects Exhibit – Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2018
47
Professor Erika AnderssonQuantum Wonderland for S4-S6, Y10-Y13
Dr Maria Ana CatalunaLight in the fast lane: what can ultrafast lasers do? for S3-S4
Dr Alessandro FedrizziAre you for real? Spooky action and other quantum mysteries for S3-S6, Y10-Y13
Professor Ian GalbraithAstrophysics for S3-S6, Y10-Y13
Dr Erik GaugerQuantum biology for S3-S6, Y9-Y13
Dr Brian GerardotChanging the light-bulb for S3-S6, Y10-Y13
Dr Robert ThomsonUsing lasers to find ET for S3-S6, Y10-Y13
Schools talks
IPaQS Annual Report 201848
In 2018, the following Heriot-Watt University undergraduate students were awarded IPAQS summer scholarships.
Andrew Brine worked in Alessandro Fedrizzi’s group on Photonics Quantum Computing. Scott Hermon joined Sam Chen’s group to study Nanostructure Hologram for Polarization Measurement. Gregor MacEwan worked with Bill MacPherson on Manufacturing of Miniaturised Optical Fibre-based Pressure Sensors. Jonathan Leach welcomed Imogen Morland to work on Random Number Generation using a SPAD Array Sensor. Christopher Sparling worked in Dave Townsend’s group on Assembly and Testing of an Ultra-high Vacuum Spectrometer. Lastly, Frazer Sweeney worked with Derryck Reid’s group on Measuring Atmospheric Gases Using Mid-Infrared Light.
Professor Gerald Buller welcomed Alistair Clarke from the University of St Andrews, who worked on Higher Dimensional Feed-forward State Comparison Amplification.
Romane Moulin joined Erik Gauger to work on a project entitled Superradiance meets cavity QED, for which she won Rank Prize Foundation funding.
Summer Intern Projects
49
Jonathan Finley, Technische Universität München, Quantum Optics with Semiconductor Artificial Atoms
Ryszard Buczynski, University of Warsaw, Optical Fibre Technology Revisited: Towards Nanostructured Microoptics and Optofluidic Systems
Richard Bowman, University of Bath, Rise of the Machines: how to build more Open, Smarter Labs
Mauro Paternostro, Queens University, Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics of Quantum Processes
Daniel Oi, Strathclyde University, Space Quantum Science and Technology
Michael Reilly, Heriot-Watt University, Modelling of high power 2um amplifiers: Steady States and Spatio-temporal Dynamics
Kimberly Tkalcec, Heriot-Watt University, Amplification of Ultrashort Pulses
Myung-Joong Hwang, Ulm University, Exploring Non-equilibrium Phases of Matter using Controlled Quantum Systems
Seokwoo Jeon, Director of Advanced MEMS GC Center for Drug Detection, Large-Area, Optical 3D Nanopatterning for Functional Nanomaterials
Mohsen Rahmani, Australian National University, Smart Metasurfaces: New Era of Optics
Viv Kendon, University of Durham, Developing Continuous-time Quantum Computing
Massimiliano Guasoni, University of Southampton, Multi-mode photonics: from Optical Fibres to On-chip Waveguides
Anatoly Zayats, Kings College London, Nonlinear Optics with Hyperbolic Plasmonic Metamaterials
Chris Evans, UK-ATC, ELT: The Biggest Eye on the Sky
Erik Gauger, Heriot Watt University, Learning from Nature: Bio-inspired Quantum Technologies?
Brian Cunningham, University of Illinois, New Forms of Microscopy Enabled by Nanostructured Surfaces
Matthias Widmann, University of Stuttgart, Silicon Vacancies in Silicon Carbide for Quantum Applications
Petros Wallden, University of Edinburgh, Cyber Security in the Quantum Era and the Quantum Cloud Vision
Clara Saraceno, Ruhr University, Modelocked Thin-disk Lasers as Compact Driving Lasers for High-power Sources covering the XUV to the THz Regime
Johannes Lischner, Imperial College, Turning the Electronic Structure of 2d Materials via Defect Engineering and Twisting
Sadiq Muhammad, Stockholm University, Bound Entanglement: Creation and Activation
Seminars
IPaQS Annual Report 201850
FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
51
Facilities
Cleanroom
HWU’s newly refurbished EPS Cleanroom has recently been enhanced with the integration of the new EPSRC Two-Dimensional Photonics Fabrication Facility, a unique world-leading facility capable of characterising two-dimensional materials and rapid fabrication of bespoke photonic devices.
The 2D fabrication facility is comprised of four main instruments to complement the array of existing cleanroom equipment. The centrepiece instrument, a “maskless” direct write laser, is a lithographic tool to rapidly fabricate large scale but bespoke 2D photonic devices with novel functionalities. The maskless laser writer bridges the gap in lateral resolution and write speed between electron beam lithography and conventional photolithography to enable rapid fabrication of nanoscale photonic devices over large areas. The unique lithography system is augmented by an electron beam evaporator enabling deposition of high-quality metals and dielectrics with nanometre precision onto devices lithographically defined by the direct write laser. Finally, for the ultimate in thin-film, surface and materials metrology, a spectroscopic imaging ellipsometer (EP4 from Accurion) is used. This unique instrument is crucial for characterization, either pre- or post-fabrication by the lithographic tool, of emerging two-dimensional semiconductor devices. The Facility is completed by a custom-designed glovebox with integrated optical characterization tools for the bespoke fabrication and initial characterization of robust and pristine 2D semiconductor heterostructures. With this setup, one can create new quantum devices with all degrees of freedom – even the angle of rotation between the different crystal layers, encapsulate them, and even deterministically incorporate them onto photonic chips for applications in both classical and quantum photonics.
IPaQS Annual Report 201852
Associate Professor Dr. John Travers (centre) and two of his PhD students Teodora Grigorova and Athanasios Lekosiotis work on the HISOL beam-line in the new LUPO labs of the David Brewster Building.
The new Laboratory of Ultrafast Physics and Optics (LUPO), run by Dr. John Travers, was constructed in 2016 and commissioned in 2017. The refurbishment and new research activity is funded by €1.7m from a European Research Council Starting Grant (HISOL) and start-up funding from the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The work in the LUPO-labs is focused on the production of new light sources through ultrafast nonlinear optics, especially in the extended propagation regime (i.e. fibres, hollow-waveguides and filamentation). We then apply these sources to study fundamental linear and nonlinear light-matter interaction using advanced ultrafast spectroscopy techniques, both in-house and through collaborations. Our first vacuum and deep ultraviolet beam-line (running from the left-hand corner of the picture to the vacuum chamber next to Dr. Travers in the centre) has just seen “first-light”, producing more than 20 μJ in near single-cycle pulses, tunable from 110 nm to 300 nm.
Laser Laboratory
A new laser lab has been commissioned for IPAQS. The lab is located in the ground floor of the Scott Russell building and was ready at the end of 2017. The lab will support the research of Dr. Maria Ana Cataluna and her group, funded by an ERC Starting Grant (UPTIME: Real-TIME probing of Ultrafast Phenomena). Among other lines of research, the lab will support the development of novel high-speed optical sensing methods and corresponding applications, new semiconductor ultrafast/tunable lasers and systems and ultrafast spectroscopy to investigate the dynamics of semiconductor materials.
Laboratories
HISOL beam-line in the new LUPO laboratory
£10,007,557Research Income
36Faculty
Members
50PDRAs
116PhD and EngD
Students
85Publications
1 Director’s Statement
2 Research Highlights
6 Faculty and Staff
12 Research Projects and Technology Developments
20 New Grant Awards
24 Publications, Patents and Awards
32 PhD and EngD Students
40 Education and Training
44 Outreach and Other Activities
50 Facilities and Equipment
The Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences
ANNUAL REPORT 20
18
THE INSTITUTE OF PHOTONICS AND QUANTUM SCIENCES School of Engineering and Physical SciencesDavid Brewster BuildingHeriot-Watt UniversityEdinburgh, EH14 4ASUK
+44 (0) 131 451 [email protected]