Research group

Pulsed Fibre Lasers

A pulsed fibre laser cutting through metal

We specialise in developing pulsed laser technology for use in medicine, defence, renewable energy, and manufacturing.

About

We are the world’s leading research group in developing pulsed fibre lasers since they were first demonstrated in the mid-1980s. Our research focuses on:

  • developing high-power, high-energy fibre lasers and amplifiers
  • extending laser wavelengths from UV to mid-IR
  • tailoring the pulse characteristics to suit a range of applications
  • managing nonlinearity and dispersion in pulsed fibre laser systems
  • developing reliable, practical, and low-cost pulsed fibre laser systems
  • shaping the spatial and temporal profile of the laser pulses
  • exploring new applications in biomedical imaging and advanced material processing
  • developing new fibres (e.g. multicore fibres, multimode fibres, hollow core fibres), components and amplifiers
  • applying various beam shaping and coherent beam combing (CBC) techniques
  • delivering high power lasers through optical fibre

Background  


A pulsed fibre laser is a type of laser that emits high intensity light pulses in a short burst mode (typically ranging from fs to ns) and uses optical fibres as a laser gain medium. It can produce extremely high peak powers, which is very useful in variety of material processing, micromachining, laser surgery, and scientific applications.

The pulses emitted by a pulsed fibre laser can be generated using a variety of techniques, including Q-switching, gain-switching, and mode-locking and it has various attractive features, including:

  • wide selection of operation wavelengths (from UV to mid IR)
  • pulse repetition rate from kHz to MHz
  • average power from 1 to 100W
  • pulse peak power from kW to MW
  • excellent beam quality

People, projects, publications and PhDs

People

Professor David Richardson FREng, FRS

Research interests

  • Hollow Core Optical Fibres
  • Optical Communications
  • High Power Fibre Lasers

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Dr Hans Christian Mulvad

Senior Research Fellow
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Dr Lin Xu

Associate Professor

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Dr Qiang Fu

Research Fellow
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Dr Sijing Liang

Research Fellow
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Dr Yongmin Jung

Principal Research Fellow

Research interests

  • Multicore fibre technology
  • Multimode fibre technology
  • Wideband fibre amplifier technology

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Our research group is mainly working in three different wavelength regions (1um, 1.55um and 2um) for various applications in telecommunications, bioimaging, material processing.
Principal Research Fellow

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Contact us

Optoelectronics Research Centre Building 46, Highfield Campus SO17 1BJ