Future Photonics Hub Annual Report 2020 by University of Southampton

Annual Report 2020

| Introducing the Future Photonics Hub

Contents Introducing the Future Photonics Hub

Our mission

Executive summary

Reacting to COVID-19 and preparing for the future

The ultimate enabling technology

Core technology platforms

Innovation Fund

Research income

National leadership

Bringing photonics research to more diverse audiences

Communications

Technical reports

The team

The Future Photonics Hub is a partnership between two leading UK research institutes, the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton and the EPSRC National Epitaxy Facility at the University of Sheffield.

We work with a network of over 40 companies, representing strategic UK sectors including telecommunications, healthcare, defence and aerospace, to support the rapid commercialisation of innovative photonics manufacturing technologies. Together, we are combining our expertise and state-of-the art experimental facilities to:

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ead research in core photonics L platform technologies: silica optical fibres, III-V semiconductors, silicon photonics, 2D materials and metamaterials. evelop integrated manufacturing D processes, making it simple and efficient to incorporate photonics into high-value systems. und early stage research into F cutting-edge manufacturing technologies.

| Our mission

We aim to secure the UK’s position as a leading innovator in the high value global photonics market by transferring new, practical and commercial process technologies to industry.

We respond to the needs of industry by creating new photonics materials, devices and components, designed to be easy to manufacture and integrate with existing technologies.

We bridge the gap between academic research and product development, uniting the UK science base with industry and funding agencies to co-invest in R&D.

We use innovation in light technologies to accelerate growth in the UK’s £13.5 billion photonics industry and support £600 billion of UK manufacturing output across key global market sectors.

| Executive summary

Together we are maximising the impact of Government investment and continue to make great strides in uniting the UK photonics community. In 2020 we have

Initiated a major virtualisation project to tackle the covid-19 pandemic.

Refined techniques to join revolutionary new hollowcore fibres with conventional solid core fibres so that their unique properties can be harnessed to transform telecommunications and industrial processing.

Ensured academics and industry have been able to work safely and productively in the labs during lockdown.

In the five years since inception we have more than tripled the impact of our initial Government investment. We have generated more than £16 million of income from industry and are working on 77 research projects to help bring new photonics technologies to market. We have also been awarded an additional £12 million in competitively won grant funding to further accelerate next generation manufacturing research.

Supplied 50,000 vital pieces of PPE to the NHS front line staff.

Kicked off projects worth £153,000 from the Innovation Fund.

Established methods to manufacture silica fibre lasers for use in laser based surgery.

Made substantial advances in semiconductor processing technology to produce integrated Quantum Cascade Lasers for gas detection.

Developed new ways of manufacturing emerging 2D materials on a large scale.

“We know from experience the astonishing range of innovative ideas that emerge when scientists and engineers come together to think about manufacturing. Scientific discovery is only ever one part of the solution. It’s important to remind ourselves, why we are doing this, where it’s leading and what it can do for UK industry.” Professor Sir David Payne Director, The Future Photonics Hub

| Reacting to COVID-19 and preparing for the future

#covid19 Working through a pandemic @PhotonicsHub Photonics researcher 3D printing thousands of face shields A postdoctoral researcher helped produce thousands of face shields for health and care workers in Hampshire.

Doing a photonics PhD from home during lockdown We talked to a final-year PhD student, Wanvisa Talataisong, about her experience of doing her PhD studies from home during lockdown.

The Hub community adapted quickly and pro-actively throughout the pandemic, finding new ways of working and supporting each other and the wider-world tackle challenges as they unfolded. Some highlights included 3D printing face shields for local health and care workers, doing a PhD from home and leading the effort to get the clean rooms covid-safe for researchers and industry.

Hub research - how we transferred to operating in a ‘new normal’ In just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world, affecting dayto-day life and disrupting economies around the globe. What impact did this have on the photonics research community, and what challenges and opportunities did we face as we moved to a ‘new normal’? Read the full story here.

Photonics researchers accelerate development of 15-minute COVID-19 diagnostic tests Photonics researchers reported promising early results from a prototype for rapid and cheap COVID-19 diagnostic tests. The laser-printed testing kits detected the presence of the virus itself rather than antibodies and were designed to return a diagnosis within 15 minutes.

Mountbatten clean rooms complex first University of Southampton facility to re-open

Supplying PPE to front-line NHS staff “Pleased our clean rooms have been able to supply approx 50,000 vital pieces of PPE to the NHS in the COVID19 fight. Thank you to all those on the front line working so hard keep us safe.” #WeAreTogether #NHSheros #COVID19”

Academics and industrial partners were able to return to experimental work in the clean rooms in June 2020.

Back in the lab “Looking forward to getting the laboratory running again to commence industrial collaborations.”

The incredible work of the facilities management and technician teams alongside the central University health and safety team devised best practice procedures as government guidance was released.

Read the full story here.

| Reacting to COVID-19 and preparing for the future

We typically use a wide range of face-toface activities to engage with customers, stakeholders and the public. However, in 2020, trade shows, international conferences, meetings, events, facilities tours, workshops in schools and science festivals were severely impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. With the unprecedented uncertainty and restrictions on travel, none of these activities were expected to return to pre-covid levels in the near-term. The Hub was at risk of becoming insulated from the sponsors, collaborators, peers, teachers and young people who would normally engage in industrial liaison and public engagement programmes. Swift remedial action was needed to address the vacuum created by the absence of ersonal contact. In the Autumn of 2020, we received EPSRC funding for an ambitious proposal to virtualise our interactions with the outside world. Our vision was to create a unified portal that went far beyond a simple website, providing an enhanced experience for the virtual

visitor to mimic, as far as possible, and in some cases exceed normal business interactions. High-quality films showcasing our research and facilities, virtual laboratory visits, online events and meetings, video teaching resources and virtual workshops for teachers and children would help to compensate for the lack of face-to-face contact. The ‘virtualisation’ programme kicked-off in October 2020. The initiation and discovery phases ran from October to December and delivered a fully-scoped programme plan, with suppliers appointed to launch content in spring 2021. Recognising our role as national leaders, we are sharing with the wider UK industrial and research community our development process and lessons learned.

Phase 1: Initiation 1. Defining the programme structure The programme is divided into three projects. The first two projects - virtualising outreach and public engagement and virtualising the calendar of events directly target the primary audience groups; prospective industrial partners and academic collaborators, and schools and the general public.

The third project - the virtual tour of Hub facilities. Whilst a virtual tour doesn’t provide the full sensory experience of an in-person visit, there is an exciting opportunity to exceed some aspects of the usual experience with content that will not usually be accessible on campus.

2. Appointing the programme delivery team Members of the Hub team were appointed to lead on different aspects of the programme according to their expertise. Roles were defined so that the expectations and responsibilities of individuals were clear, as well as their contributions to the overall programme.

Virtulisation programme structure Programme delivery team

Programme Manager Ruth Churchill

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Subject Matter Expert Pearl John

School/Public Out Reach Project

Project Administrator Liz Gilbride

Creative Lead Michelle Mitchell

Virtual Tour Project

Unified open platform

Industrial Engagement Project

Subject Matter Experts Business Development: Amir Kayani Lobbying/Networks: John Lincoln

| Reacting to COVID-19 and preparing for the future

Impact on industrial engagement lifecycle

Awareness

2. Defining aims

Schools and the general public

After unpicking the challenges, we held workshops to define what successful solutions would look like. We defined our aims and built a picture of what good would look like.

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Industry and prospective collaborators

Developing long-term strategic partnerships

Qualifying leads

Delivery

Lack of face-toface meetings with demonstrations and facilities tours impacts on showcasing capability, relationship building and developing trust.

Project planning

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estoring sponsored research to R pre-COVID19 rates over a 2-3 year horizon

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Diversification of income streams

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Growing numbers of new partners

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I ncreasing visibility – leading and participating in forums and conferences, interacting with audiences through the virtual platform and other media channels

roviding a suite of virtual schools P and public engagement activities at Science and Engineering Festival 2021 elivering virtual workshops to D 30 GCSE and A-level teachers I ncreasing target audience interaction with digital and online resources, including videos and downloadable content

3. Defining target audiences and understanding their needs Through a series of workshops and video interviews, we explored the motivations, challenges and needs of the diverse group of Hub audiences and stakeholders.

Industry and prospective collaborators Core Hub audience groups for industrial engagement were identified as CTOs of large multinationals and senior leaders of SMEs. Schools and the general public A secondary school teacher joined the team as a specialist adviser and we engaged the Institute of Physics Teachers Network to act as independent evaluators during the development of resources.

Industrial engagement audience groups Contract negotiation

Impact on business as usual

Customers

External Stakeholders

Influencers

Internal Stakeholders Academic Collaborator

Low impact

PhD Student

Medium impact Industrial Network

High impact Learned Society

Phase 2: Discovery 1. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 We ran workshops to examine the impact of the pandemic on our usual engagement with our key audiences. We asked ourselves, what haven’t we been able to do and what are we still doing well? Defining the issue We explored the impact on the

CTO of large multinational

industrial engagement lifecycle and identified pain points that had appeared as a result of the pandemic. Schools and the general public The cancellation of school assemblies and public mass gatherings has devastated the Hub’s Schools Outreach and

Senior Leader of SME Audience Groups

Civil Servant

Public Engagement Programme, which typically reaches around 5,000 school children, college students and members of the public annually through in-person events. Reconnecting with these audiences required a new virtual offering of online events and digital tools.

ZIPN Senior Academic

Alumni

ZIPN Early Career Researcher

EPSRC Portfolio Manager

Government

Primary

CEO of large multinational

EPSRC Senior Executive

Central University Department EPSRC Comms Manager

Cleanrooms Directors and Manager

Secondary

Tertiary

| Reacting to COVID-19 and preparing for the future

Hub Researchers

Downloads

Outreach with autistic children PGRs

Phase 3: Kicking off Interviews 1. Defining our deliverables, budgets and timescales

E-Inspiring careers in STEM

Using the knowledge gained from the discovery phase, we identified the specific content that we would create through the programme. Budgets were allocated and a detailed project plan set dates for development and delivery milestones.

Alumni

Users access integrated interactive content

Virtual tour

Technical AGM

Flagship industry day

e.g. journey of silicon wafer

Strategic thematic workshops

Digital events capability

Enhanced animation

Industrial engagement

Business Development Team

Bookable real-time chat Hub researchers

High quality video content

Interviews

High quality video content

What is photonics? etc E-books

Virtual teachers workshops for KS2-3

2. Finalising the key messaging and creative brief We examined the most empowering audience needs and market insights against the unique service offered by the Hub and created a value proposition to inform the creative development process. 3. Supplier selection

Supported by animations

Hub facilities 3D rendered using cutting-edge tech e.g. LIDAR

Self-guided interactive tour of Hub facilities e.g. making optical fibre

Gender diversity in STEM

Schools outreach and public engagement

Light Express videos for teachers

Supports Photonics Toolkit

Activities for children

Integrated creative content gives a ‘beyond real life’ experience

e.g. go inside cleanrooms, even inside equipment

The brief was sent to six creative agencies from the University of Southampton’s approved supplier roster. We ran a competitive process and shortlisted three to pitch for film production. A further four specialist providers were contacted for the virtual tour project and one was appointed following a supplier selection process.

Marketing and communications objectives

Oh, that looks interesting. INFORM

1. ‘Inform’ primary audience groups in target sectors of the Hub offering.

2. Inspire prospects so they ‘get in touch’ to discuss potential projects Wow, I’d like to find out more. INSPIRE

2021 and beyond We will begin 2021 in our ‘implementation’ phase. Working to our programme plan, we will launch the first virtual Hub content in March 2021 in time for Southampton’s flagship Science and Engineering Festival.

3. Persuade prospects to convert to customers I’ve been persuaded to work together. PERSUADE

PGRs

Footage of Academic capabilities collaborators

| The ultimate enabling technology

Photonics has near limitless uses and can be found in almost all of the products and services we use in everyday life. Photonics is the science and technology of light. Although most people don’t realise it, photonics technologies are widely integrated into products and systems across a broad range of sectors.

Enabling key industry sectors

Employment

Output

£13.5bn

69,000

£5.3bn

industry value to the UK economy

Harsh environment sensors for oil & gas

Here are just a few examples of the many applications of photonics technologies:

Value

Optical fibres for high bandwidth telecommunications

Laser-written diagnostics for healthcare

Silicon photonics for data centres Sensors for security

High power fibre lasers for manufacturing

total GVA

£76,400 GVA per employee

8.4%

like for like growth over two years (4.1% CAGR)

(vs UK manufacturing average of £67,000)

UK photonics manufacturing industry Putting the UK at the forefront of future industries

LIDAR for autonomous vehicles

people employed across the sector

Growth

The UK is an international leader in photonics research. Our science base has already given rise to a globally significant market which continues to expand at an impressive rate.

Photonics technologies are both ubiquitous and transformative. The UK photonics manufacturing industry is growing, as are many other high-tech industry sectors enabled by photonics. Investing in future photonics innovation is critical to retaining the UK’s competitive edge in the £400 billion global photonics market and offers vast potential to stimulate wider economic growth.

Source: The Photonics Leadership Group (PLG), June 2019

Head-up displays for aviation 16

Integrated photonics for quantum technology

| Core technology platforms

We are developing new photonics technologies to fuel innovation. Our research is delivering solutions to manufacturing challenges and overcoming barriers to the widespread industry adoption of next-generation photonics. We aim to develop the important ‘Pervasive Technologies’ identified in the UK Foresight report on the future of manufacturing1, through carrying out research into four, carefully selected Technology Platforms: High Performance Silica Optical Fibres, Light Generation and Delivery, Silicon Photonics and the Large-Scale Manufacturing of Metamaterials and 2D Materials. We also know that the key to producing low cost components and systems is integration. Optical fibres, planar waveguides, metamaterials and III-V semiconductors cannot yet be combined in a cost effective, integrated manufacturing process.

Our consultations with over forty companies, Catapults and Innovative Manufacturng Centres identified a clear business need to reduce the complexity of incorporating next generation photonics technologies in high value systems. Integration is an industry wide issue which we have chosen to tackle as our ‘Grand Challenge’. Our research capabilities The Hub is a unique partnership between the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton and the EPSRC National Epitaxy Facility at the University of Sheffield. It is this collaboration between two leading research institutes that ensures our work is characterised by scientific excellence and innovation. Together, we have an extensive and impressive track record in research and enterprise:

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ur innovations navigate airliners, O cut steel, mark iPads, manufacture life-saving medical devices and power the internet. ur optical fibres, invented and O made in Southampton, are on the Moon, Mars and the International Space Station. ur epitaxial wafers and devices, O produced in Sheffield, have enabled world-class semiconductor research in the UK since 1979. ur combined portfolio of startO ups now exceeds 12 companies. ur expertise is underpinned by O our £200 million of state-of-the-art fabrication facilities.

Core Technology Platforms 2. Light Generation and Delivery 1. Large-Scale Manufacturing of Metamaterials and 2D Materials

User-driven manufacturing processes will increase the integration and unification of diverse manufacturing platforms in III-V epitaxy, metamaterials, Si-SOI fabrication methods and functional fibre geometries.

Developing cost-effective, reliable and volume-scalable methods to fabricate these novel materials in order to enable their practical exploitation in applications such as telecommunications, displays and sensors.

Grand Challenge: Integration The drive to achieve integration is a ubiquitous theme uniting the world’s photonics industries. The photonics industry today can be likened to the early days of electronics when individual components were wired together, resulting in inevitable cost and scaling implications. Today’s photonics components are not yet compatible with a single manufacturing platform and this represents a major industrial challenge.

3. High Performance Silica Optical Fibres

4. Silicon Photonics

Optical fibres are essential components in many photonic devices and systems – from sensing to amplifying light. The key challenge in manufacturing fibre is improving its loss, gain and power handling characteristics.

Achieving integration with optical fibres, light sources and key processes of wafer level manufacturing to enable devices such as low cost transceivers for data centres and mid-infrared sensors.

| Innovation fund

With support from our £1 million Photonics Innovation Fund, we are building a national network of academic partners, primed to respond to emerging industrial challenges with a wide range of expertise.

The Future Photonics Hub University of Southampton University of Sheffield Innovation Fund partners Heriot-Watt University University of Bangor University of Bristol University of Cambridge

Since 2016, we have awarded nearly three quarters of a million pounds in grant funding to projects led by UK researchers who can offer new capabilities relevant to industry but outside of our core know-how. We operate a dynamic funding mechanism using a regular call for proposals, aligned with specific research themes. Over four years, we have awarded 13 projects to researchers in institutions including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Bangor, Southampton and Strathclyde.

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id-IR Diamond Integrated M Photonics: A feasibility study. Dr Maziar Nezhad, University of Bangor. Award value: £59,965 I ntegration of 2D materials with established silicon photonics and electronics platforms, Dr Ioannis Zeimpekis-Karakonstantinos, University of Southampton. Award value: £30,890

We also pledged support to a fourth project, Manufacturing of large-area InP on nano-V-grooved CMOS-compatible Si, from Principle Investigator Dr Philip Shields at the University of Bath. This was a joint proposal to the Future Photonics and Future Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing (CSM) Hubs. The Future CSM Hub was selected as the lead funder for this project due to the close alignment of research priorities Award value: £62,476.

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Our most recent call was launched in October 2019 in collaboration with three other EPSRC Future Manufacturing Research Hubs: The Future Composites Hub, The Future Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub, and The Future Metrology Hub. 64 proposals were received, with 12 in the area of photonics. Of these, three successful proposals were awarded to projects starting in 2020:

rowth of large Pockels G coefficient PZT and BTO layers on Si, Prof Hayden, University of Southampton. Award value: £62,259

The joint call created new possibilities to exploit research synergies between the four Hubs. A common assessment framework was agreed by all four Hubs and the applications were reviewed by a panel of Co-Investigators, supported by independent assessors. The assessment criteria included: suitability to the call and appropriate TRL level; research quality; scientific novelty and timeliness; relevance to industry and building UK manufacturing capability; ambition, level of risk and potential for similar levels of return; appropriateness and credibility of the team to deliver and future develop the project; and planning and resources.

University of Oxford University of Southampton with Imperial College, London University of Southampton with Phoenix Photonics University of Strathclyde Industry partners International industry partners by country UK photonics industry activity

This strong partnership between Hubs led to a successful, collaborative Innovation Fund model. Work is now underway to finalise a new joint call involving four Hubs and with a total budget of over £1 million. The call is expected to launch in Summer 2021 with awards made in the Autumn.

Sweden China

USA

Italy

| Research income

Industrial income by Technology Platform

Innovating with industry for economic growth. As national leaders in photonics manufacturing research, we stimulate collaborations between academia and industry throughout the supply chain. We engage industrial influencers to raise awareness of the value of photonics, both in delivering transformational manufacturing technologies and driving economic growth.

We have secured significant income in all four Technology Platforms, working with companies across the photonics supply chain from component manufacturers to large end-users in a range of market sectors.

2016-2020

Total income £5,172,000

£16m+

£5,013,000

Total industrial income

£3,755,000

£1m+

£1,356,000

2020 industrial income Our ramped-up activities under the Grand Challenge of Integration have also been supplemented by some targeted projects following the award of funding from the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA).

657,000

2016-2020

projects, 4 Technology Platforms 2016-2020

High-Performance Silica Optical Fibre Light Generation and Delivery Silicon Photonics Large-Scale Manufacturing of Metamaterials & 2D Materials Integration

Total income January 2016 to December 2020

2016-2020

industry sectors 2016-2020: sensing, defence, photonics, data comms, storage, LIDAR for autonomous vehicles, aerospace, advanced materials and manufacturing

£16m 42% Industry income

£10m

26% core income

£12m

31.5% competitively secured income

2016-2020

| National leadership

As the national photonics manufacturing hub, we are responsible for providing leadership to the UK academic, industrial and government communities. Our role is to increase awareness and engagement with the ways photonics manufacturing research is tackling Grand Challenges, improving people’s lives and boosting productivity. We provide access to expertise which helps industry innovate and champion strategic investment that will drive social and economic impact. Conferences and exhibitions Playing an active leadership role on the conference and trade show circuit is one of the most powerful ways to engage stakeholders and represent the community on a global stage. Since 2016, we have participated in 106 conferences, trade shows and workshops around the world, giving keynotes and plenary talks, presenting papers and exhibiting technology demonstrators.

Hub Principal Investigator Professor Sir David Payne delivers a plenary at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco

Despite the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, we continued to deliver our research to the some of the largest and best-known international conferences and exhibitions.

In February, Hub Principal Investigator, Professor Sir David Payne delivered a plenary just before lockdown at the prestigious OPTO at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, the world’s largest photonics technologies event with 22,000 attendees. The Hub had a very strong presence across the five day event, with a number of accepted papers, an exhibition stand and a feature within the Tyndall Award 50th birthday exhibition, in recognition of Professor Sir David Payne’s Tyndall award for the invention of the Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier. Our 2020 industry day was held online in May at the SPIE Photonex + Vacuum Expo Digital Forum. The event programme for ‘Advances in Resilient Photonics Manufacturing’, included talks from leading colleagues in industry and academia enabled industry to access the latest innovations in new processes and approaches for manufacturing photonics components.

The format provided virtual networking opportunities and facilitated knowledge transfer of how photonics platforms can drive novel solutions to business challenges. In February, we took a stand at the Materials Research Exchange exhibition and conference at the Business Design Centre in London. Photonics horizons In March, Professor Sir David Payne, Professor Jon Heffernan, Professor Graham Reed and Dr Natalie Wheeler were invited by the Photonics Leadership Group to participate in a series of photonics horizon scanning workshops, where 22 internationally renowned professors and four early career researchers came together to represent the views of the UK photonics community.

| National leadership

Hub Deputy Director Professor Heffernan played a key role in defining and organising the initiative whilst Hub early career researcher, Dr Wheeler was involved in the workshop design and co-authored the report – Future horizons for photonics research 2030 and beyond. She also delivered a presentation about the report at the SPIE Photonex conference in May. The report was designed and funded by the Hub and was produced to stimulate engagement from government, funding agencies and industry to shape and support future innovation strategies and to mobilise the next generation of researchers. Carol Monaghan, MP and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Photonics and Quantum, provided the foreword to the report which looks into the future and aims to distinguish what will be possible in photonics, the disruptive technologies on the horizon and the opportunities that they present for the UK to lead in knowledge generation and wealth creation.

Engaging with government and industry Throughout the year, we actively engaged with government and industry. Hub Industrial Liaison Manager, Dr John Lincoln, took part in briefings on the National Security Investment legislation and worked with us to encourage the photonics community to participate in the consultation process. Dr Lincoln engaged with the UK Fibre Connectivity Forum and Connected Britain for opportunities to commercialise optical fibre in readiness for the ever-increasing demands on our networks.

In November, Professor Sir David Payne was invited to deliver a keynote at the Bessemer Society dinner - Building a resilient future for telecoms. The Bessemer Society provides a forum and rallying point for the leaders of high tech companies engaged in ‘hard tech’ manufacturing, facilitated by dinners with key enablers and industry leaders. This year our online voice was more important than ever. Through social channels, newsletters and the press, we initiated debate and provided thought leadership on live issues, such as UK investment in R&D, stimulating the local economy and encouraging diversity in the technology sector.

We have developed a High Power Laser Centre white paper and policy brief with industry input and have fed into government consultations and select committee evidence calls on topics such, ‘measures to ease the economic impact of Covid-19’.

| National leadership

A key role of the Future Photonics Hub is to demonstrate national leadership in manufacturing the next generation of photonics technologies. During the last year, we have published a series of features showcasing initiatives where the Hub is both influencing and reacting to the national photonics landscape.

Tackling future public health and economic challenges Hub Principal Investigator Professor Sir David Payne explored the impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s research agenda, sharing his thoughts on the direction the research agenda may take and the role photonics and the Hub can play in tackling the public health and economic challenges that lie ahead. Professor Payne said, “The pandemic will have made many countries much more aware of how vulnerable their supply chains are; in the UK for example this has been brought into sharp relief with the problems sourcing personal protective equipment. So, the government will be focused on making us more resilient, not just in

the biomedical area, but in all the other areas of the supply chain in which we have been found wanting during the pandemic. Because of Brexit there was already a greater interest in boosting our national capability and being less dependent on other countries, and this will heighten it further. I think the government will also focus on rebuilding the economy and in particular manufacturing. “At the Future Photonics Hub, our purpose is to bridge the gap between great research and its translation into great products. What the Hub does very effectively is to develop low-cost, reliable manufacturing processes to make things faster, cheaper and better. The technology can then be taken to market via new start-ups, by working with existing start-ups or by licensing to major companies.”

Among the areas that Sir David explored were: ■

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hanges to the UK’s research C agenda in the wake of COVID-19 hanges to research funding C areas as a result of the pandemic ow the UK research community H can adapt to the aftermath of COVID-19 ays that academia can W collaborate more effectively with industry ow photonics fits into the wider H research agenda ow photonics research can H contribute to medical solutions for diseases such as COVID-19 ther areas where photonics O could provide solutions to problems associated with the pandemic

Read the full story here.

| National leadership

Southampton spinout celebrates 20 years of innovation

Championing the positive impact of a more diverse workforce The Future Photonics Hub is supporting a national initiative that is helping the photonics industry tackle equality, diversity and inclusivity challenges to become more accessible to everyone.

Southampton spin-out company SPI Lasers, a Hub collaborator, is one of the world’s leading fibre laser designers and manufacturers and is celebrating 20 years of innovation. Founded in 2000, as a direct result of pioneering research in Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), the company now operates under the name TRUMPF Laser UK Ltd, selling products in more than 150 countries around the globe, employing 300 employees, and with an annual turnover of about £70million. SPI Lasers founding member and Hub CoInvestigator Professor Michalis Zervas said, “We have a strong connection with the Future Photonics Hub, which has provided us with the basis for a broader interaction with other companies and research groups in the photonics field. The Hub has supported us with some of the projects we are running, by helping us to understand the wider requirements of manufacturing photonics.”

Making photonics a voice to be heard With COVID-19 impacting on all sectors of the economy and influencing future government policy and spending decisions, never has a strong voice for the photonics industry been more important. The Hub supported the Photonics Leadership Group (PLG) in gathering industry intelligence and facilitating the development of a vision for nextgeneration photonics. The aim was to understand the effects of the pandemic on the sector and how it will inform future research, funding and strategy decisions. A report of the Future Horizons for Photonics Research project has been published and PLG Chief Executive Dr John Lincoln, who is also Industrial Liaison Manager at the Hub, said, “We want our report to be available to make sure the opportunities to advance

photonics are clear. Many industry sectors use photonics to keep them competitive, so fostering next-generation photonics will support growth not only across photonics but across the whole economy, which very much aligns with the UK industrial strategy. “The horizon scanning exercise was just one way in which we can feed into decisions about the balance of research funding, and indeed from a wider PLG viewpoint, the balance between supporting research and development through the UK research councils, Innovate UK and research and development tax credits.

The Opening Up Photonics platform was started in 2018 to highlight the lack of gender diversity in photonics, particularly in Scotland but also in the UK more broadly. It champions the positive impact a more diverse workforce brings, and is also supported by the University of Glasgow, Technology Scotland, the Institute of Physics and the KTN.

Dr Kirsty Annand, External Engagement Manager for the Photonic Integration and Advanced Data Storage Centre for Doctoral Training, is the driving force behind Opening Up Photonics which aims to attract a more diverse workforce to the photonics industry, with a particular focus on closing the sector’s gender gap. Dr Annand said, “Our aims include building up our profile with industry, academia and government, encouraging organisations to sign up to our vision for growth in photonics, identifying barriers to female engagement in the sector, and equipping HR teams with tools

and resources so they can attract a more diverse workforce. “Engaging with education providers to inspire future generations of photonics professionals is also key, because children make choices at a really young age about whether they want to continue to study science. We want to make sure we’re making an appropriate impact at an appropriate point in the pipeline.” Read the full story here.

“The Hub’s support enables the PLG to present the output of pan-institution initiatives, such as the horizon scanning report, in a format that will maximise their impact.” Read the full story here.

Read the full story here.

| National Leadership

Showcasing our leading photonics research The latest innovations in photonics manufacturing were showcased on the national stage by academics from the Future Photonics Hub and Southampton’s Silicon Photonics Group who organised two events at the premier UK photonics exhibition SPIE Photonex and Vacuum Expo 2020 Digital Forum. The first was an industryfocused forum called Advances in Resilient Photonics Manufacturing, hosted by the Future Photonics Hub, which revealed new

Ensuring the internet is fit for the future The coronavirus pandemic has seen an increased pressure on the internet as more people are socialising, shopping, learning and working online. The Future Photonics Hub is providing a vital role in ensuring the internet is capable of meeting the future demand, by being at the interface of academic research and commercial products that are rolled out in-market. Professor David Richardson, Co-Investigator of the Future Photonics Hub, said, “We’re working on delivering the next generation of internet that will be even more powerful, more reliable, more responsive, and have a higher capacity.

“The hollow core fibre is very futuristic and in the short-term will be used for more specialist communications applications, but ultimately our hope is that it will become cost effective and much more widely deployed in our global networks. “We will seek to commercialise the most promising work, continuing Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre’s (ORC) long heritage of successfully spinning out companies such as SPI Lasers, Fibercore and Lumenisity. We also have a track record of working with industry to test our new technological developments in the field, and some of the world’s biggest companies are investing in us to develop their nextgeneration products.

processes and approaches in photonics manufacturing being developed by the Hub, its partners and collaborators, as well as highlighs of where photonics platforms can be used to drive novel solutions to business challenges. The Silicon Photonics Group hosted a symposium focusing on emerging applications beyond the traditional field of telecommunications. Read the full story here.

Sparking a passion for photonics “We’re investigating a broad range of applications and the Future Photonics Hub is the interface we work through to commercialise or transfer technologies.” This research into revolutionary new technologies for a faster, higher-capacity internet continues the ORC’s history as a pioneering centre for optical fibre discovery. It was the ORC’s groundbreaking research that enabled the production of the fibre optic network that supports today’s internet. Read the full story here.

The Future Photonics Hub has been inspiring the next generation of photonics researchers and engineers through a range of outreach activities, with the aim of attracting a more diverse workforce to the sector. There is a well-recognised need to expand the pipeline of talent coming into the UK photonics sector, but there is also a continuing perception among girls and young people from minority ethnic and disadvantaged backgrounds that STEM subjects are not for them.

The Hub has supported two outreach initiatives - PHABLABS 4.0 and Lightwave – to turn that perception around. PHABLABS 4.0 is a Europe-wide programme that developed and piloted 33 different photonics workshops and 11 ‘Photonics Challenger Projects’ with a particular focus on making them attractive and accessible to girls and young women. These are now being rolled out to fabrication or ‘makers’ laboratories (known as Fab Labs), a European network of labs that provide public access to equipment and software in order to encourage technological education, innovation and invention.

Lightwave is an award-winning programme that introduces photonics to underserved audiences, including children from Black and Asian minority ethnic groups and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, through workshops and demonstrations in schools, at the University and at community events. Read the full story here.

| Bringing photonics research to more diverse audiences

The Hub’s Photonics Outreach Programme had an extraordinary year in 2020, as the global pandemic hit. Our schools and public engagement figures dropped from an annual average of 5,000 to 2,300 as a result of COVID-19. Despite the challenges forced upon us by the pandemic, we were able to widen participation and embark on a journey of ‘outreach virtualisation’. We were delighted to broaden our research engagement activities by training staff and students to work more effectively with autistic people and to reach audiences with very little access to the internet during lockdown.

“You’re so much more autism friendly this year!” Visitor comment at the Photon Shop at Light Up Poole! Digital Arts Festival 2020

Light tunnel inside a wave machine made with LED finger lights Courtesy of Dr Paul Gow

We were fortunate to be able to deliver our Photon Shop activity to people in an area of deprivation before the lockdown hit, and we also began a virtualisation programme to ensure that we can continue to work

successfully online with the public in the future. We began the process of virtualising our Light Express Roadshow as a video resource to support teaching of optics and photonics in schools and teachers’ workshops. We also designed and piloted two virtual teachers’ photonics workshops using new teaching materials. Hundreds of Southampton pupils, who had little or no access to the internet during lockdown, also received packs containing a Hub outreach activity.

| Bringing photonics research to more diverse audiences

Increasing accessibility The three-day Photon Shop activity run by the Hub Outreach Team in a disused shop in Poole during the Light Up Poole! Digital Arts Festival in 2019, saw more than 1,000 members of the public engaging with researchers, but evaluation of the activity showed improvements could be made to increase accessibility and involvement for an autistic audience and members of the public with special needs. To achieve this, we organised a training session with a Hampshire Autistic Society called Understanding Autistic People. This training made our Photon Shop activity at the Light Up Poole! Digital Arts Festival 2020 more accessible - with half an hour at the beginning of each session dedicated to autistic visitors; a chill out zone; floor signage; written learning objectives and activity timers at stands. To create a quieter environment bathroom hand driers were turned off and paper towels were provided instead. Demonstrators were also given specific training on how to adapt their presentation styles accordingly.

Many of the things we learnt through the training have improved our communication skills and will also benefit non-autistic participants. We are also publishing a guide – coauthored with Autism Hampshire trainer David Serpell – called Towards Improving Outreach and Public Engagement Experiences for Autistic People. Shining a spotlight on Southampton research In 2020, more than 2,000 members of the public discovered our pioneering research into the science of light at the Light Up Poole! Digital Arts Festival, which aimed to promote and encourage learning in science, engineering and technology; driving economic growth and offseason tourism and using light art to reflect Poole’s heritage and natural and built environments. Our Photon Shop featured a collection of stands exhibiting research projects and public engagement activities, and was a popular activity at the three-day event that attracted about 53,000 people visitors.

Our activities included: fibre optics demonstrations, including holey fibre, a laser/music transmission kit; an LED and laser harp and an infinity mirror. The demos illustrated basic light theory such as reflection, refraction and total internal reflection and showed the visitors how light can be used to transfer data via the internet and how fibre is used in manufacturing. The activities were designed to inform the public of the importance of photonics and photonics research in their lives. Surveys of visitors showed that all enjoyed the Photon Shop, with 95 per cent of those asked saying that they would recommend the Photon Shop to other people. A vast majority said they were more likely to study physics or recommend studying physics to a friend or family member after visiting the Photon Shop and felt inspired to learn more about physics.. The impact of the outreach was further strengthened with 40,000 Light Up Poole! brochures (featuring the Photon Shop) being distributed to the general public.

Dr Bill Brocklesby sparking a passion for photonics Courtesy of Dr Paul Gow

| Communications

We continue to build the profile of the outstanding community we represent through the media and via networks. Telling our stories through the media In 2020, we issued a series of eighteen press releases to academic and scientific media outlets, announcing research developments and events in our calendar of national leadership programme. Our stories have been regularly picked up by popular technical publications such as The Engineer, Optics.com, Photonics and Optics News, Photonics.com, Laser Focus World and Physics.org. Raising our profile through our internationally renowned research team Hub Co-Investigators have continued to receive recognition for their outstanding contributions to photonics research and industry innovation. In December 2020, Professor Nikolay Zheludev was part of the team who received the highest honour bestowed upon research scientists and engineers in Singapore. The team were honoured for their global leadership in, and fundamental contributions to, topological nanophotonics research

which underpins the development of a new generation of light-based technologies. Professor Zheludev was also amongst an elite group recognised for exceptional research influence, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field in the Web of Science™. In October 2020, Professor Graham Reed received dual honours over the course of just eight days by being elected as a Fellow of both the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the European Optical Society (EOS) at each of the prestigious society’s annual general assemblies. Galvanising the community online Digital media channels were more important than ever in 2020. We maintained a regular drum beat of commentary and debate, bringing the community together on topics such as the Security and Investment Bill consultation through parliament, the Southampton cleanrooms re-opening in May for experimental work to continue safely and the report on Future Horizons for Photonics Research.

We sent a regular electronic newsletter to our subscribers throughout the year, keeping them informed of the latest news, events, funding opportunities and National Leadership features. The publication’s open and click-through rates continued to exceed the manufacturing sector benchmarks for email communications by more than 100%, with average open rates of 41% and average click-through rates of more than 14%. The @PhotonicsHub Twitter account continued to actively engage a growing audience. Amplifying messages by leveraging a network of advocates In 2020 we leveraged our active community of advocates to amplify messaging. We had particular success on Twitter with regular quoted retweets from influential partners and publishers such @FemTech, @WomenInOptics, @IOPDiversity on stories delivering on ED&I. Other advocates have proactively amplified our content by re-publishing on their own channels, such as Photonics Scotland with, ‘Championing Diversity in the workplace: Interview with Dr Kirsty Annand’.

Technology reports Long-Term Optical Performance of Hollow-Core Fibres

Advanced Beam Shaping in High Power Fibre Lasers

Developing Large Mode Area Fibres for High-Energy and High-Average Power Laser Systems

Active Silicon Photonic Devices for the Mid-Infrared

Optical Components for 3D Vision Systems

Advanced Metamaterial Nanostructures

Manufacturing and Application of 2D Materials

Development of Integrated Mid-Infrared On-Chip Photonics

Novel Forms of Interconnection and Device Integration for Emerging Multicore, Multimode and Hollow-Core Fibres

Progress on Active and Hollow-Core Fibres Based on Non-Silica Glasses

Images in University of Southampton’s £200m cleanroom complex

| High Performance Silica Optical Fibres

Long-term Optical Performance of Hollow-Core Fibres Furthermore, we have investigated the optical performance of HCFs in two scenarios: (i) where the fibre is spliced at both ends to standard, all-solid optical fibre (effectively hermetically sealing the gas content within the core and cladding holes that run along the fibre length) and (ii) where light is free-space coupled into the fibre and therefore the gas within the fibre can exchange with the surrounding atmosphere, at a rate depending on the initial fibre conditions and the environment.

Challenge To assess the long-term optical and mechanical performance of hollow-core fibres (HCFs) in environments and configurations relevant to future deployment in various applications. To develop techniques and fabrication processes to mitigate any reliability or aging effects observed.

Progress The unique combination of optical properties offered by HCFs, such as ultralow latency, low non-linearity and wide transmission bandwidth, derive from guidance of light within an air-filled or hollow core. Yet, the microstructure that defines the hollow core presents a unique geometry, including very thin, curved glass membranes and the holes within the microstructure which usually contain gas content throughout the entire fibre length. The impact of this geometry on the long-term performance of these fibres is currently largely unexplored. We are investigating various effects related to the gas content within the fibre and the interaction of these gas species with the glass surfaces within the fibres. Firstly, we have examined the initial internal conditions of a HCF immediately after fabrication, including internal gas composition and pressure. To do this, we seal the ends of the HCF straight after the fibre has been drawn, in order to preserve the initial conditions. Then via absorption and Raman spectroscopy, we have monitored the change in gas composition and pressure as a function of time, after the fibre ends are opened up to atmosphere. In this work, we have compared experimental measurements with gas flow simulations and identified that the pressure inside a HCF immediately after fabrication is substantially below atmospheric pressure; this has important implications for HCF storage and handling post-fabrication.

Co-Investigator contact: Dr Natalie Wheeler nvw1v10@orc.soton.ac.uk

Figure 1: Transmission of two HC-PBGFs (PBGF-A, cross-section shown left) as a function of time. Both HCFs have been spliced at both ends to conventional, all-solid fibre; this provides low loss optical coupling but also hermetically seals the gas content present in the core and cladding holes inside the fibre.

In the spliced condition, we have monitored the transmission of several HCFs over time. Figure 1 shows the transmission of two hollow core photonic bandgap fibres (HC-PBGFs); this has been periodically monitored over more than 2 years and, within experimental uncertainty, the transmission of the fibres has remained consistent. This is very promising for data transmission applications where this deployment scenario is relevant.

| High Performance Silica Optical Fibres

Advanced Beam Shaping in High Power Fibre Lasers

Challenge Figure 2: (a) Optical microscope image of a F300 HC-PBGF, where contamination is clear after 1 day; (b) Raman spectroscopy of silica glass (inset) and contamination. The Raman spectrum of the contamination agrees very well with reference spectra for ammonium chloride.

In the free-space coupling scenario we have studied end-face degradation for different HCF geometries and for HCFs fabricated from different grades of high purity silica (the starting point for HCF fabrication). HCFs made from F300 (high chlorine content) glass are known to have issues of contamination ‘growing’ from fibre end-faces post-cleaving; this is a particular issue in free-space experiments where the contamination reduces coupling efficiency into the HCF over time. Figure 2(a) shows a F300 HC-PBGF where the end-face has been cleaved and left for 1 day; significant contamination is present. Figure 2(b) compares the Raman spectrum of silica glass with the Raman signal of the end-face contamination; from these measurements we identified the contamination as ammonium chloride. In further work we have identified the likely sources of the ammonium chloride and means to remove it, this includes using a different grade of silica glass as a starting material. We have fabricated HC-PBGFs from F320 silica glass which, 50 days after cleaving, are substantially contamination-free. Future plans: In ongoing work, we are investigating the optical performance of HCFs as a function of time in free-space conditions. We are studying various fibre designs (both HC-PBGFs and anti-resonant fibres) fabricated from different glasses. We are also investigating the gas composition within HCFs as a function of time and the impact of this on fibre aging.

Co-Investigator contact: Professor Michalis Zervas mnz@soton.ac.uk

With the forthcoming digital manufacturing and industry 4.0 upon us, a new generation of “smart” fibre laser is required, offering increased flexibility and controllability to respond to the new emerging challenges. For example, it is recognised that the ability to “structure” and shape the output beam profile of a laser can potentially yield significant improvements in speed, efficiency, and quality over conventional lasers, in processes such as laser cutting, welding, and additive manufacturing. Fibre lasers (FLs) significantly outperform all other competing technologies offering record output powers and beam qualities, ranging from single-mode (SM) 10kW, with beam quality factor M2~1.1, to highly multimode (MM) outputs of 100kW with M2~30. Due to their excellent waveguiding properties, FLs offer the possibility to uniquely structure the laser output beams and extend their applicability. The challenge is to develop novel all-fibre technologies in order to provide advanced beam shaping in high power fibre lasers (HPFLs) and evaluate their impact on material processing.

Progress Figure 1a

Figure 1b

In our research, we have developed a novel all-fibre beam shaping technology, which relies on specially designed, in-fibre, adjustable mode couplers, and it is scalable to multi-kW levels. In contrast with other existing commercial solutions, our unique approach provides extensive mode-shape variability, from true fundamental mode to more complex higher-order azimuthal modes through multimode (MM) delivery fibres. Figure 1(a) shows the schematic of a special infibre beam shaper acting upon the single-mode (SM) Gaussian-like (LP01) output of a HPFL and transforming it into a complex multipetal (LP41) beam supported by the MM delivery fibre. The multipetal beam is stable and extremely robust against severe external perturbations, as required by industrial material processing systems. Our special in-fibre beam shaper can be set to provide a range of structured multi-petal ring-like beams (LP31 – LP61) of varying complexity and beam-quality factor (M2), as shown in Figure 1(b).

| High Performance Silica Optical Fibres

Developing Large Mode Area Fibres for High-Energy and High-Average Power Laser Systems The beam shaping technology has been transferred to SPI Lasers Ltd and has been commercialised under the trademark variMODETM. The impact of the different beam shapes achieved with the variMODETM technology has been studied in cutting and welding stainless steel (SS), aluminium (Al) and mild steel (MS). In the case of MS cutting, ring-like beams reduce the power requirements by ~25% to achieve the same result with standard Gaussianlike beams. Significant improvements have also been observed in welding applications. Figure 2 shows an example of keyhole welding cross-sections achieved by a standard Gaussian-like (LP01) beam and a structured multipetal beam (LP61). The laser output power was 1.6kW and the focused beam spot-size 400μm. Such structured-light multi-petal beams are produced and used in industrial applications for the first time. It is shown that the use the novel multi-petal beams result in a superior welding, uniform along the entire depth.

Challenge Modified chemical vapour deposition (MCVD)-solution doped technique is widely used in today’s manufacturing of rare-earth (RE) doped silica optical fibre preforms. However this technology has its limitations when it comes to increasing the volume of doped material, attaining a homogenous doping at high doping levels of REs and codopants, and fibres with tailored dopants and refractive index profiles. Advances in doped fibre fabrication techniques to overcome these limitations are in demand for the next generation of active optical fibres that will take high power laser technology to its next level.

Progress

Future work The preliminary cutting and welding superior results were unexpected and efforts are now made to understand better the underlying light-matter interactions and define optimum beam shapes for ultimate welding and cutting performance. In addition, new beam-shaping technologies and novel configurations will be studied in order to increase the beam-shaping speed by one to two orders of magnitude, from the current ms to tens of μs regime. This will enable even faster material processing speeds, and extend the material processing capabilities of the new generation of “smart” fibre lasers, with truly programmable beam-shaping capabilities.

Co-Investigator contact: Professor Jayanta Sahu jks@orc.soton.ac.uk

Figure 2

Our research has focused on developing an industry compatible MCVD-gas phase based RE-doped fibre preform fabrication technique that is suitable for realising multi-layered preforms with complex RE doping profiles. In addition, the fabrication technique allows a rapid production of preforms with a large doped core volume compared to the conventional MCVD-solution doping process. The work has concentrated on optimisation of deposition parameters and core glass compositions for RE-doped (i.e., Yb3+, Er3+ and Tm3+) silica fibres, suitable for efficient high power laser operations at 1 μm, 1.55 μm, and 2 μm wavelength regions. Figure 1 shows the MCVD-gas phase process, where deposition of a transparent RE-doped phosphosilicate (PS) layer inside a silica glass substrate tube is presented. It is worth noting that PS is a preferred choice of host material for Yb3+ to suppress the photodarkening effect in high power lasers. However, RE-PS fibres are generally considered difficult to fabricate due to evaporation of P2O5 during the preform fabrication process, resulting in a central dip in the core refractive index profile that has detrimental effect on the output beam quality of fibre lasers. Our preform fabrication process has been optimised to minimise the central-dip in RE-PS fibres.

Figure 1: A snap shot of the RE-doped preform fabrication process using an MCVD-gas phase technique. The green emission is an indicator of Er content in the preform

| Silicon Photonics

Active Silicon Photonic Devices for the Mid-Infrared

Challenge The mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral region is of interest for applications in gas, chemical and biomedical sensing, as well as in communications. We have focused on tackling two key research challenges to enable the realisation of inexpensive mid-IR optical systems. These challenges are: realising room temperature detectors based on suspended silicon waveguides and fabricating mid-IR optical modulators in silicon.

Figure 1: Schematic of a room temperature midIR detector based on waveguide-integrated microbolometer

Progress Co-Investigator contact: Professor Goran Mashanovich g.mashanovich@soton. ac.uk

One of the most important devices for silicon mid-IR circuits is an integrated detector, which should ideally work at room temperature. We have been working on realising such a device based on our suspended Si technology. In the frame of this project, we have already demonstrated a library of robust suspended silicon devices for wavelengths up to 8 micrometers. This suspended platform is now being adapted for use as a multi-project wafer to enable multiple researchers in the UK and worldwide to access the platform through the EPSRC-funded CORNERSTONE foundry project. The detector is shown in Figure 1 and comprises a suspended Si waveguide with a subwavelength lateral cladding, an antenna absorber on top of the waveguide core, an amorphous silicon (a-Si) bridge and two contacts. Due to the absorption of mid-IR light, enhanced by the presence of the antenna, the temperature of the a-Si bridge increases thus changing the bridge resistance which results in a change of the current between the two metal contacts. We have recently demonstrated this detector at a wavelength of 3.8 μm with a sensitivity of 24.62 %/mW, improving our previous results by more than one order of magnitude.

The second focus was on performance improvements of mid-IR silicon optical modulators for the 2 μm band. The modulators were based on carrier depletion (Figure. 2(a)) and were fabricated by the self-aligned process (Figure. 2(b). Fabricated MachZehnder and Michelson interferometer based silicon-on-insulator optical modulators were characterised using both OOK and PAM-4 schemes and showed world leading daterates of 25Gb/s with extinction ratios in excess of 6dB. Figure 2: (a) The phase shifter cross section of the 2 μm MZI/MI modulator. (b) Self-aligned process used in the fabrication.

Future work Future work will involve performance improvements of silicon mid-IR devices, such as larger sensitivity of detectors, demonstration of detection at longer wavelengths, fabrication of more efficient optical modulators and realisation of frequency combs based on such modulators, and integration of mid-IR sources and silicon and germanium mid-IR circuits.

| Large-Scale Manufacturing of Metamaterials and 2D Materials

Diffuser components are currently based on arrays of stalactite shaped glass micro-lenses, typically 30 μm in length, each with a unique length and curvature. These are incredibly difficult to manufacture making the diffuser one of the most expensive sub-components.

Optical Components for 3D Vision Systems

Utilising our legacy patents we have devised a completely novel technological solution for the diffuser component, replacing the long glass stalactites with a sub-micron thick nano-patterned silicon layer.

Challenge 3D vision and face recognition systems are now common in smart-phones, but they utilise complex bulk optical systems that are very difficult and costly to assemble. Over the last 2 years we have been working in conjunction with IQE plc (key supplier of laser epitaxy to companies such as Apple) on developing more compact replacement components for 3D face recognition systems for deployment in next generation smartphones. This project exploits our granted Photonic Quasi-Crystal patent portfolio which was recently purchased by IQE. One of the key sub-modules is the infra-red illuminator. This incorporates an array of very high power VCSELS, along with a diffuser component to provide a specific illumination pattern. VCSELs currently suffer from unavoidably large beam divergence angle (60 degs typically) requiring complex external corrective optics, making the illuminator module bulky and expensive to assemble. They also require a complicated oxidation process that defines the laser aperture, and limits the power output.

Progress

Co-Investigator contact: Professor Martin Charlton mdc1@soton.ac.uk

Figure 2 left: Optical microscope image of completed PQC-VCSELs, right: SEM of PQC-VCSEL surface.

Work on PQC-VCSELS resulted in a robust wafer scale fabrication process flow, and a novel etch processes for the Photonic Crystal pattern (Figure 1). Several batches of PQC-VCSEL devices were fabricated (Figure 2), demonstrating greatly reduced beam divergence whilst maintaining excellent electrical characteristics under test (Figure 3). Most significant, these prototypes proved that the oxidation process could be eliminated entirely and that arbitrary power scaling was indeed possible meaning arrays of VCSELs currently used in face recognition systems could be replaced by just a few large diameter PQC-VCSELS. Work on the PQC-diffuser component required the development of a reliable end to end manufacture process from scratch. The key challenge was development of a high fidelity, large area, electron beam lithography process to define the complex nm scale pattern on glass, pushing our e-beam system to its limits. 6 generations of PQC-diffuser prototypes were designed and fabricated. Optical tests showed the latest batch met real-world customer specifications as required for current mobile phone systems.

Our Photonic Crystal VCSEL technology solves the VCSEL beam divergence and power limitation problems, allowing control of the beam divergence angle direct from the chip dye without the need for external lenses. It also eradicates the oxidation step entirely, greatly simplifying-mass manufacture and allowing larger higher power lasers to be produced.

Figure 1: Photonic QuasiCrystal pattern etched in GaAs epitaxy.

IQE plan to release a product based on the PQC-diffuser technology within the next 12 months and a technology licensing agreement is currently under negotiation. Our focus has now shifted to solving mass-manufacturing challenges, working closely with IQE’s manufacturing teams in Taiwan.

Figure 3: PQC-VCSEL array under test.

| Large-Scale Manufacturing of Metamaterials and 2D Materials

In related work, we have introduced a new technique for detecting and imaging movements with picometre (sub-atomic) displacement sensitivity, which can be deployed on a majority of existing scanning electron microscopes.

Advanced Metamaterial Nanostructures Challenge We manufacture reconfigurable photonic metamaterials based on dielectric membranes of nanoscale thickness that are nanostructured by focused ion beam milling to create periodic structures with moving parts. Due to their subwavelength unit cell size, such reconfigurable structures are effective optical materials, with optical properties controlled by temperature, electric field, magnetic field or even light.

Progress Figure 1 shows one of our recent breakthroughs. This nanomechanical metamaterial exhibits giant electrogyration, i.e. dependence of optical activity on electric field. While the effect has been known in dielectrics, semiconductors and ferroelectrics since the 1960s, it is vanishingly small in natural materials. Here, we engineered a metamaterial were electrogyration is a million times stronger, achieving more than 10° polarisation rotation in a layer of 100s of nm thickness in response to a few volts. Electric field deforms every second nanowire of the structure. Upon deformation the structure becomes different from its mirror image, i.e. chiral, and starts to rotate the polarisation of light. The observation of giant electrogyration turns this phenomenon into a functional part of the electro-optic toolkit with application potential.

Co-Investigator contact: Professor Nikolay Zheludev niz@orc.soton.ac.uk

Figure 2: Detection of sub-atomic movement in nanostructures.

Figure 1: Electrogyration in metamaterials: Chirality and polarization rotatory power that depend on applied electric field.

Nanoscale objects move fast, oscillating at kHz-MHz frequencies, and such movements (thermal or externally driven) underpin the functionality of numerous micro/nano-opto/ electro-mechanical (meta)materials, devices, sensors and systems. However, there are currently no routinely available techniques for quantifying and mapping such movements. Our approach is based on real-time spectral analysis of variations in secondary electron emission from moving objects interrogated with a focused electron beam. It is sensitive to displacements at sharp, high-contrast edges of an object and has a typical noise level of order 1 pm/Hz1/2, thus allowing for the study of movements with sub-atomic amplitudes (the radii of isolated neutral atoms range between 30 and 300 pm). We have demonstrated applications to the measurement of natural frequencies and displacement amplitudes of thermal motion; hyperspectral visualisation of driven oscillation modes in nano-cantilevers and more complex, technologically-relevant (MEMS and reconfigurable photonic metamaterial) device structures.

| Large-Scale Manufacturing of Metamaterials and 2D Materials

Manufacturing and Application of 2D Materials

Device performance continues to improve as our current generation of FET transistors molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), as shown in Figure 2, improve in performance through modifications in the fabrication methodology, in particular, optimisation of the annealing conditions post deposition. Statistical evaluation of devices fabricated, as shown in Figure 3.

Challenge

Integration plays an important role in our research and to this end we have developed a large scale transfer process to facilitate their integration with a wide range of flexible optoelectronics, silicon photonics, optical fibre and III-V devices.

To achieve CMOS compatible, wafer scale processing of 2D materials for optoelectronics applications, demonstrating an order of magnitude improvement in electrical characteristics.

Future work

Progress During 2020, our research has continued to focus on optimising the electrical properties of uniform, wafer scale, atomically thin 2D films for use in next generation transistor devices and large areas transition metal di-chalcogenide monolayers for a variety of emerging electronic and photonics applications.

Co-Investigator contact: Professor Dan Hewak dh@orc.soton.ac.uk

In collaborative work with Brazil, China and the University of Nottingham here in the UK, we have found that ionising radiation (gamma ray) interacts strongly with twodimensional WS2 which induces effective p-doping in the samples. As the radiation dose increases, the p-doping concentration increases substantially. These results, published in May in the journal Nanoscale Horizons, have shown that a detector based on monolayer WS2 is an appealing candidate for sensing high-energy photons at small radiation doses.

Figure 2: Scanning tunnelling microscope (STEM) image (top view) of MoS2 showing individual atoms of molybdenum (Mo) in a two dimensional crystalline lattice. Image taken by Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany) through funding provided through ESTEEM3.

We continue to collaborate with industrial partners who are providing valuable target specifications for electrical performance. Most exciting for the team is our work commencing 2021 on the design and fabrication of an 8 inch (200 mm) capability for wafer scale processing up to 1200oC under inert or reactive gas conditions. This will be a major step forward in bringing wider spread commercialisation of 2D materials.

Figure 3: Histogram showing the improvement in device mobility in current devices compared to the first generation of devics fabricated.

Figure 3 Figure 1: shows A conceptualised drawing of a γ-ray interaction with a WS2 monolayer illustrating the generation of secondary γ photons (in the silicon substrate), electron/hole pairs, fast electrons, and creation of S and W vacancies in the monolayer.

| Integration

Development of Integrated Mid-Infrared On-Chip Photonics Challenge To demonstrate the integration of semiconductor devices such as lasers, LEDs and detectors on single chips for functional manipulation of Mid-Infrared light.

Progress Our research in this platform is aimed at developing new manufacturing methods that will allow the integration of a range of photonics components, such as lasers, LEDs and detectors with passive semiconductor components such as waveguides, modulators and interferometers on GaAs, silicon or silicon/Ge platforms. The overall aim is to demonstrate new forms of integrated smart photonics chips such as integrated sensors, spectrometers, quantum processors and lab-on chip diagnostic tools. The heterogeneous integration of different materials, devices and process that in the past were often considered incompatible is now a major focus of the global development of smart electronic systems. But there remain many challenges in developing the manufacturing methods.

Co-Investigator contact: Professor Jon Heffernan jon.heffernan@sheffield.ac.uk

Figure 1: Schematic of on-chip FTIR spectrometer on a GaAs chip. On the left is the fabricated wafer including spiral waveguides.

In this theme we have been continuing the development of two technological approaches to the problem of creating integrated photonic systems; with a focus towards on-chip integrated sensors with mid-infrared photonics. The University of Southampton has worked closely with the epitaxy and device team in Sheffield to develop and evaluate new approaches to the problem, and have been working with industry and selected other academic groups to further the field.

Figure 1: (a) Schematic of flip-chip integration of InPbased Quantum cascade laser (QCL) with a Si/Ge waveguide structure. (b) Microscope image of flip-chipped devices

We have continued work on hybrid photonic technologies using Quantum Cascade lasers epitaxially grown on Indium Phosphide substrates in Sheffield. Lasers with excellent performance characteristics at an emission wavelength of 5.6μm have been developed and this wavelength is suitable for detection of important industrial gases such as Ammonia. The lasers have been ‘flip-chipped’ to integrate with photonic chip technology based on Silicon/Germanium substrates which were prefabricated at the University of Southampton (Figure 1). The flip-chip of large structures such as QCLs has required a significant development of the semiconductor processing technology to ensure that optical coupling of the laser with the Silicon/Germanium waveguides is optimum. High coupling efficiency and low loss of light is critical to integration technology as it has a direct impact on sensitive and ultimately on cost. With a focus on manufacturing efficiency and cost we are also investigating a second approach to creating integrated on-chip sensors. This is based on homogenous integration of different photonic components onto a single III-V semiconductor substrate. We are aiming to demonstrate an on-chip Fourier Transform Interferometer (FTIR) for spectral analysis on a GaAs platform. A schematic of the structures is shown in Figure 2 and the principle is based on an on-chip Max Zender interferometer with thermally tuneable waveguides. The development of this technology for the mid-IR spectral region is a new area of research. To achieve mid-IR waveguiding we have developed a buried waveguide approach using epitaxial regrowth by MOVPE at the University of Sheffield. GaAs waveguides are buried in a cladding of GaInP which is lattice matched to GaAs and ensures high optical and structural integrity of the material. Because of the mid-infrared target wavelength of around 4 microns, the GaInP clad region has to be very thick (>5 microns) and this requires significant development of the epitaxial regrowth. Following initial demonstration of good buried waveguides, we have now started to optimise the process to obtain the lowest loss structures. In particular, because we use spiral waveguides (Figure 2.) we have investigated the effect of crystal orientation on the regrowth process. Initial investigations using both physical and optical characterisations of the waveguides show limited impact of waveguide orientation, but further research is required leading to potentially new designs.

| Integration

Novel Forms of Interconnection and Device Integration for Emerging Multicore, Multimode and Hollow-Core Fibres Challenge To develop novel means of interconnecting emerging new fibre types under development within the Photonics Manufacturing Hub to other fibres and/or to other functional components.

Progress Our research this year has focused on the development of industrial grade interconnection and integration platforms enabling ready integration of these novel fibres into devices and sub-systems. Firstly, using micro-optic collimator technology, we have developed various inline fibre components based on few mode fibres, multicore fibres and hollow-core fibres. This includes components such as isolators, circulators, 2x2 fibre couplers, gain-flattening filters and WDM couplers, which we now routinely fabricate in-house in support of our wider research goals. We can even produce hybrid fibre components incorporating multiple optical functions (e.g. an isolator + WDM coupler). Note that these novel optical components have subsequently been used in the construction of compact few mode (or multicore) fibre amplifiers and amplifier modules, which have successfully been made in both core-pumped and cladding-pumped configurations. Significantly, we have received several consultancies form one of our industrial Hub partners for the supply of few mode and/or multicore fibre components and optical amplifier assemblies. Various prototype devices have now been supplied for real world testing/ applications. More recently, we have built few-mode multicore fibre amplifiers (e.g. 7-cores x 6-modes) operating in both the C-band and L-bands and shipped them to NTT Laboratories in Japan, where our collaborators have successfully tested and used them in various data transmission experiments.

Co-Investigator contact: Professor David Richardson, djr@orc.soton.ac.uk

Figure 1 left: Fully integrated 6-mode EDFA module Right: 6-mode 7-core fibre amplifier

We have also worked to integrate metamaterial samples into multicore fibres. In particular, we have developed a 7-core fibre device incorporating meta-surfaces on each core for polarisation analysis and fabricated associated fan-in/fan-out devices to access individual cores. In addition, we have collaborated with researchers at the University of Bath on the topic of logarithmic index profile fibre, leading to fibre tapers with invariant mode field diameter along their length and enabling adiabatic mode transitions for all spatial modes (not just for the fundamental mode but all supported higher-order modes also).

Future Plans We will continue to focus on the integration aspects of all of these emerging fibre types with a focus on loss reduction, extended wavelength coverage and increasing the range of device functionalities possible.

| Light Generation and Delivery

Progress on Active and Hollow-Core Fibres Based on Non-Silica Glasses

of 1.9 W and a peak-power of 42 MW. Both length and peak-power represents a record in the fs regime from a Tm-doped germanate fibre CPA system with high beam quality (M2 ~1.14). By cladding pumping a 30 cm length we produced an average power of 4 W (limited by thermally induced damage) and a peak-power of 0.59 MW with a pulse duration of 305 fs. The performance is already comparable to the state of the art achieved with flexible silica fibres and confirm that the highly TDGF represent an alternative to silica base fibres for the generation of high energy/peak power pulses at 2μm.

Challenge To develop active and hollow-core fibres that exploit the advantages of compound glasses over the more conventional silica counterparts, producing very compact optical amplifiers and mid-infrared fibres for the mid-infrared, respectively.

As a result of paying careful attention to optimisation of the glass material quality, a water-free Germanate glass has also been recently produced which would hold great potential for high performance mid-IR fibre lasers and amplifiers and thus would be an important competitor to fluoride based fibres for higher average/peak power scaling. In addition, preliminary experiments with erbium-doped water-free Germanate glasses have shown encouraging spectroscopic results.

Progress Our research has focused on mid-IR hollow-core nonsilica fibres and on active fibres for ultrashort pulse amplification.

Co-Investigator contact: Professor Francesco Poletti frap@orc.soton.ac.uk

Figure 1: Highly Tm-doped Germanate double cladding fibre

On the hollow-core front, we have focused on the development of antiresonant hollowcore microstructured fibres (AR-HCFs) based on two different types of mid-IR glasses: an in-house developed Tellurite composition, and a commercially sourced chalcogenide glass version (IG3, Ge30As13Se32Te25). The tellurite is durable, non-toxic and has a transmission edge extending well beyond silica, providing a mean for low-loss ARHCFs for laser delivery applications potentially operating up to ~6 μm. The alternative chalcogenide AR-HCFs could extend such low-loss and high-power laser delivery capability up to 12 μm.

Figure 2: 10.6 μm guiding chalcogenide hollow-core fibre (left) and mode field diameter of the transmitted beam (right)

We have fabricated AR-HC preforms through the extrusion method, which minimises the required thermal process steps (minimising potential glass crystallization) and leads to consolidated preforms, enabling the development of regular and reproducible preforms. The AR-HC preforms were co-drawn with a fluorinated polymer coating to improve the fibre’s mechanical properties such as strength and flexibility, to protect the glass from the external environment’s humidity, and to address safety concerns due to the toxicity of the glass. We can now fabricate routinely tellurite AR-HCFs with symmetric structure (transversally and longitudinally), which guide light in the mid-IR at 4.8 dB/m attenuation level at 5.6 μm and with good single-mode modal properties (M2=1.2). IG3 AR-HCFs, design to operate at 10.6 μm, were also successfully fabricated. Their full experimental characterisations and optimisation is in progress.

Future work

On the active, solid core front, we have produced a dual cladding large mode area, high Tm3+ doping concentration germanate fibre (TDGF). The fibre has a core diameter of 17 μm, a record Tm3+ ion concentration (8.5* 1020 ions/cm3) and an hexagonal inner-cladding to enhance pump absorption when cladding pumped. By core-pumping a short piece (9.5 cm) of the highly TDGF in a Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) system operating at 1925 nm, a 240 fs pulses were produced with an average power

We will continue to focus on the improvement of both hollow-core and active fibres. For the hollow-core fibres, we aim to improve the drawn structures to achieve losses smaller than 1 dB/m from 4.5 μm to 12 μm. In addition, we will attempt the fabrication of a new class of hybrid AR-HCF that could potentially result in losses in the 1 dB/km in the same wavelength range (4.5 μm - 12 μm). Regarding the active fibres, we intend to demonstrate the advantage of the double clad Germanate fibres in practical ultra-short pulse amplification scenarios.

| The team

Deputy Director and Manager: Professor Gilberto Brambilla, University of Southampton

Co-Investigator: Professor Martin Charlton, University of Southampton

Coordinator: Ruth Churchill, University of Southampton

Project Administrator: Liz Gilbride, University of Southampton

Deputy Director: Professor Jon Heffernan, University of Sheffield

Co-Investigator: Professor Dan Hewak, University of Southampton

Public Engagement Leader: Pearl John, University of Southampton

Business Development Manager: Amir Kayani, University of Southampton

Industrial Liaison Manager: Dr John Lincoln

Co-Investigator: Professor Goran Mashanovich, University of Southampton

Co-Investigator: Professor Francesco Poletti, University of Southampton

Co-Investigator: Professor Graham Reed, University of Southampton

Co-Investigator: Professor David Richardson, University of Southampton

Co-Investigator: Professor Jayanta Sahu, University of Southampton

Research and Relationship PR Officer: Michelle Mitchell, University of Southampton

With special thanks to:

Co-Investigator: Dr Natalie Wheeler, University of Southampton

Co-Investigator: Professor Michalis Zervas, University of Southampton

Co-Investigator: Professor Nikolay Zheludev, University of Southampton

Principle Investigator and Director: Professor Sir David Payne, University of Southampton

arbon Trust, Huawei, Honeywell Aerospace, II-VI Photonics, IQE, IS Instruments, Lightpoint Medical, Lumenisity, Merck, C Microsoft, NorthLab Photonics, Northrop Grumman, Oclaro, Phoenix Photonics, PragmatIC Printing, QinetiQ, Rockley Photonics, Seagate Ireland, Sestosensor, SPI Lasers, Breakthrough Prize, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), European Office of Aerospace Research & Development, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), European Commission, Horizon 2020, Innovate UK, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society

If you’d like to know more about the Future Photonics Hub, or find out how we can work together, please contact us: +44 (0)23 8059 9536 contact@photonicshubuk.org www.photonicshubuk.org Follow us @PhotonicsHub

Future Photonics Hub Annual Report 2020

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