Simon Hooker

Professor of Atomic and Laser Physics

I am interested in applications arising from the interaction of very intense laser radiation with matter. Many of these applications require an intense laser pulse to remain focused in a beam of small diameter over a long distance of propagation; something that is prevented by refraction and diffraction of the beam. The laser powers of interest are far too high to use conventional techniques, such as optical fibres and so my research group has developed a new technique for channelling such intense pulses. We are now investigating its application to driving miniature particle accelerators and compact x-ray sources.

In particular, I work on the generation of short-wavelenght radiation (soft x-ray region) via high-harmonics generation; plasma accelerators and their applications. Both of these subjects require extended propagation of intense laser pulses (1x10¹⁶ Wcm^-2 to 1x10¹⁹Wcm^-2) through ionising plasma. We are therefore also interested in techniques for guiding intense laser pulses, but given the high intensities the "core" of any guide cannot be solid.

Research area Optical Physics

Research interests Plasma accelerators Ultrafast optics Xray science

Department Physics

Stuart Mackenzie

Professor of Chemistry, Head of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory

My research in photonics revolves around the development of novel spectroscopic techniques applied to a variety of interesting scientific problems.

Stephen Morris

Professor of Engineering Science

I am interested in the development and fabrication of novel optoelectronic devices based upon organic and inorganic me

Peter Norreys

Professorial Research Fellow

My research interests are: high energy density plasma physics; inertial fusion; novel particle accelerators; extreme field science

Dominic O'Brien

Professor of Engineering Science

My interests lie in the field of optical communications. Through advances in visible light communications, we aim to gain improvements in the bandwidth and/or efficiency of a data network.

Armin Reichold

Reader in Particle Physics

My research interests lie in the field of optical metrology, encompassing absolute distance measurement systems and fibre based interferometry.

Moritz Riede

Professor of Soft Functional Nanomaterials

Our work focus's on organic semiconductor materials and organic photovoltaics

Grant Ritchie

Professor of Chemistry

My research interests lie in ultrasensitive absorption spectroscopy and optical manipulation.

Jens Rittscher

Professor of Engineering Science

Our research is aimed at enhancement our understanding of complex biological processes through the analysis of image data.

Patrick Salter

Associate Professor in Photonic Engineering

Dr Patrick Salter is working on using short pulse laser fabrication to manufacture new functional devices.

Ekaterina Shamonina

Professor of Engineering Science

My research covers metamaterials, electrodynamics, plasmonics, nanophotonics and microwave optics.