We are pleased to announce that the 2017 QEP Doctoral Research Prize has been awarded jointly to Dr. Dianmin Lin for her work on ‘Flat Optics Based On Dielectric Gradient Metasurfaces’, under the supervision of Prof. Mark Brongersma at Stanford University, USA; and to Dr. Jamie Francis-Jones for his work on “Active multiplexing of spectrally engineered heralded single photons in an integrated fibre architecture”, under Dr. Peter Mosley at the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials, University of Bath, UK.
Dr. Lin is recognized for the design and demonstration of all-dielectric (silicon) phase-gradient metasurface optical elements, such as axicons, flat lenses and blazed gratings, operating in transmission mode at visible wavelengths, as well as multifunctional metasurfaces providing new or combined functions that are difficult if not impossible to achieve with conventional optical components.
The Brongersma Group at Stanford University is concerned with the development and understanding of nanophotonic devices. As part of a worldwide research and development effort on ‘metamaterials’ – manmade media that possess unique properties not found in nature, students in the group aim to nanostructure the layered materials in conventional optoelectronic devices so as to increase their performance or to achieve entirely new functions. They have successfully applied this approach to the fields of solar energy production, information technology, and optical imaging.
Dr. Francis-Jones is recognized for the development of an innovative single-photon source based upon four-wave mixing in photonic crystal fibre, which employs active switching to enhance the probability of delivering photons into a single mode. The capability to multiplex sources of single photons is critical in deploying photonic quantum-enhanced technologies for communication and computation.
The Centre for Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials (CPPM) at the University of Bath is formed of around thirty academics, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students and pursues research across a range of topics from photonic crystal fibre for lasers, high-energy pulse delivery, advanced endoscopy, and quantum optics to graphene, astrophotonics, the theory of nonlinear optical systems, plasmonics, and chiral materials.
The QEP Doctoral Research Prize recognizes students who have conducted work of an exceptional standard in the field of quantum electronics and photonics. The winning student receives an award of £250 and a certificate.
Dr Janet Anders from the University of Exeter won the 2015 prize for her pioneering contributions to quantum information theory and its application to quantum thermodynamics. The Bates Prize shall be awarded to an early career researcher for outstanding research, published within the previous five years on a topic relevant to the below groups;
This year Sambles has chosen Professor John Dudley of the Institut FEMTO-ST, CNRS-Université de Franche-Comté. Dudley, he said, had stood out “not so much for the physics he did but for the phenomenal effort he put into promoting worldwide public awareness of the importance of physics by initiating and driving the International Year of Light, a global year of science outreach, reaching millions of people in more than 100 countries”. It is fitting recognistion for the work he did towards IYL2015.
IOP Quantum Electronics and Photonics Group 