About
Dr Jacob Mackenzie is an Associate Professor in the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton. He leads the Planar Waveguide and Slab Lasers (PWSL) research group working on novel laser gain-materials and architectures. Before joining the ORC, Jacob was an Electro-Optic Engineer with the BAE Systems, Australia (1995-1999). Awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Southampton in 2003, he became a Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) - Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (PDRF) from 2004 - 2009. Currently, he is a member of the EPSRC College, and senior member of the Optical Society of America and SPIE.
A conference co-chair of “Fiber Lasers and Glass Photonics: Materials through Applications” at SPIE Photonics Europe, Dr Mackenzie has also served on the technical committees of several of the major international laser conferences, such as, SPIE Photonics West - Solid State Lasers: Technology and Devices (2009-current), CLEO–Europe - Solid State Lasers (2011-2017), and OSA - Advanced Solid State Lasers (2014-2018). Since 2016, he has been a co-editor of the journal Applied Physics B – Lasers and Optics.
Research
Research interests
- Waveguide amplifiers and lasers
- Cryogenically cooled lasers for peak and average power scaling
- Ultra-fast high repetition rate compact lasers
Current research
Dr Mackenzie’s research focus is on efficient solid-state laser systems with an emphasis on the planar-geometry, targeting applications whose needs range from power scaling to integration and miniaturisation. The PWSL group looks to extend the current parameter space available from solid-state laser architectures – from waveguides to cryogenically cooled gain media, through materials research and composite engineering, whilst paying particular attention to thermal management, and spectroscopic characteristics. Predominantly utilising crystalline gain media, the PWSL group is exploring exciting opportunities not achievable via standard routes, thus enabling difficult or weak laser transitions, with an emphasis on increasing the range of accessible wavelengths and demonstrating power-scalable solutions in both pulsed and CW regimes. His research is closely associated with that of the Advanced Solid State Sources and Pulsed Laser Deposition groups of the ORC.
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Dr Jacob Mackenzie was employed in the electro-optics industry before starting his PhD in novel solid-state laser architectures and radiance scaling techniques. Since 2014 he’s been Associate Professor in the ORC and from 2004 to 2009 was a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow. He has published over 150 conference and journal papers, which focus on research into new laser operating regimes that target a broad range of applications in materials processing, space-borne LIDAR, and silicon photonics. In recent years, he has been in several solid-state lasers conference committees: CLEO Europe and ASSL, and as program co-chair of SPIE Photonics Europe’s (2014-2018) - Laser Sources and Applications and Fiber Lasers and Glass Photonics: Materials through Applications (2020), including current posts in Photonics West-LASE and Europhoton,. He is a senior member of the OSA. Since 2021, he has been Editor in Chief of the Springer Nature Applied Physics B: Laser and Optics journal.
Prizes
- Royal Academy of Engineering Postdoctoral Fellow (2004)