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EVacuAted OptiCal Fibres For Ultimate UV-to-Infrared Light TransMission

Staff

Other researchers

Dr Peter Horak

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Theory and simulation of nonlinear and quantum optics
  • Laser pulse propagation and manipulation in optical fibres
  • Quantum technology, integrated optics, optical resonators
Connect with Peter

Email: peh@orc.soton.ac.uk

Professor Radan Slavik

Professorial Fellow-Research

Research interests

  • In recent years, there have been significant developments in lightwave technologies enabling wide exploitation of optical phase, as exemplified in particular by the dawn of Coherent Optical Communications - the key enabler for the growth in the capacity of the Internet. This is due to many key breakthroughs in laser technology (low-noise low-cost and compact lasers), new revolutionary concepts that have recently  been introduced (e.g., the Optical Frequency Comb, the significance of which was demonstrated by the award of a Nobel Prize in 2005), and significant advances in electronics that, thanks to the increased speeds now possible, can accommodate the processing of very complicated coherent (amplitude + phase) signals.
  • Another exciting field is Hollow Core Optical fibres, which guides ligth in a central hole surrounded by a microstructure that prevents light escaping from the core. Although known for over 20 years, only very recently their fabrication enabled them to use their full potential. 
Connect with Radan

Email: R.Slavik@soton.ac.uk

Dr Natalie Wheeler

Principal Research Fellow
Connect with Natalie

Email: nvw1v10@orc.soton.ac.uk

Dr Martynas Beresna

Principal Research Fellow
Connect with Martynas

Email: M.Beresna@soton.ac.uk

Dr Lin Xu

Associate Professor
Connect with Lin

Email: L.Xu@soton.ac.uk

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Fibres and Communications

We develop new fibre technologies and explore their applications in areas including communications, sensing, lasers, materials processing and imaging.

Advanced Fibre Applications

We are dedicated to exploring advanced applications of cutting-edge optical fibres, with a special emphasis on hollow core fibres. These fibres are designed and fabricated by the Zepler Institute Microstructured Fibre group, while our group focuses on aspects of these newly-emerging fibres from the ‘user perspective’.

Computational Nonlinear Optics

We develop theoretical models and computer simulations for a wide range of photonics systems, such as optical fibres, integrated waveguides, and quantum technology.

Hollow Core Fibre

We are world-leaders in Hollow Core Optical Fibre research. Our ground-breaking fibres guide light at vacuum speeds and unprecedented intensities, enabling advances in telecoms, manufacturing, and sensing.

Gas Photonics in Hollow Core Fibres 

Hollow core fibres enable gas-light interactions over extended lengths, opening up diverse applications in high sensitivity gas sensing, novel wavelengths generation, and waveguide enhancement.

Research outputs

Interconnectivity between effectively single-moded antiresonant hollow core fibres and conventional single-mode fibres
Radan Slavík, Matěj Komanec & Eric Numkam Fokoua, 2023, Optical Fiber Technology, 81
DOI: 10.1016/j.yofte.2023.103541
Type: article
All-fiber hollow core fiber gas cell
Dmytro Suslov, Matěj Komanec, Thomas William Kelly, Ailing Zhong, Stanislav Zvanovec, Francesco Poletti, Natalie Wheeler & Radan Slavík, 2023, Optical Fiber Technology, 81
DOI: 10.1016/j.yofte.2023.103513
Type: article
Connecting hollow-core and standard single-mode fibers with perfect mode-field size adaptation
Ailing Zhong, Eric Numkam Fokoua, Meng Ding, Daniel Dousek, Dmytro Suslov, Stanislav Zvanovec, Francesco Poletti, Radan Slavík & Matěj Komanec, 2023, IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology
Type: article