Professor Jonathan Knight (Research Group Leader)
I’m interested in experimental photonics, and especially how one can confine light in waveguides and resonators. I explore how one might make new structures that can control the behaviour of light, and the development of novel optical fibres has been an especially fruitful area in this regard. Novel optical fibres can serve as testbeds for the study of a number of interesting and useful optical phenomena, including nonlinear photonics, soliton propagation, wavelength conversion and lasing, as well as outperforming existing fibre designs as a means to deliver light of different kinds from one place to another.

Professor Tim Birks
Tim Birks' research focuses on understanding light propagation along exotic optical fibres. He is best known for pioneering work on microstructured fibres including those with hollow cores, and tapered fibres including photonic lanterns. His team's work is experimental, using fibre drawing towers and tapering rigs to make fibres, but he is also at home with theoretical and computational work to support experiments, model trends in behaviour, build intuition and spark ideas. The motivation is curiosity - to understand the physics and explore what is possible - and applications including optical telecommunication, biomedical sensing and imaging, novel light sources, and astronomical instrumentation.

Dr Joe Chen
Multimode fibres are a complex yet powerful platform for controlling light. The spatial modes within the fibre can be manipulated to modify various properties of the light flowing through it, such as beam shape, polarisation, and frequency. We explore both the linear and nonlinear optical processes involved, as well as new ways to control them. These insights are then used to develop high-power lasers and programmable photonic devices that offer functions and performance beyond what single-mode fibres can achieve. Their applications span a wide range of fields, from directed energy and lidar to quantum information, AI, and space photonics. Key techniques we employ include wavefront shaping, fibre design, laser cooling, and high-precision fibre-optic sensing.

Dr Alex Davis
"Quantum technology" is the control of matter, energy and information on the scale where quantum effects such as superposition and entanglement manifest. Harnessing these phenomena, which are underutilised in existing "classical" technology, can unlock powerful new applications in fields from computing and communications to sensing and imaging. Photonics, and in particular fibre optics, provides an excellent platform for realising this potential. My research focuses on quantum light sources and processors in structured optical fibre, and its application to transformational next-generation quantum technologies.

Dr Andriy Gorbach
My general research interests lie in the area of nonlinear wave phenomena, nonlinear optics and photonics. I develop models and theoretically investigate how we can utilize combinations of geometrical and material parameters to control and manipulate light in complex nano-photonic structures, both at the level of classical electromagnetic waves, and individual photons. My primary focus is on guided structures, including optical fibres and nano-waveguides. I study nonlinear processes such as parametric frequency conversion, parametric instabilities, dynamical localization (solitons), photon-pairs generation, quantum frequency conversion.

Dr Peter Mosley
Dr Peter Mosley is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Bath and leads a research group in fibre-based quantum optics. He is a member of the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials and served as its director from 2015 - 2021. Mosley is known for developing high-quality sources of heralded single photons across a range of platforms and his group works on engineering photon-pair sources in photonic crystal fibre enhanced with optical switch networks. Mosley is an active member of the UK Quantum Technology community as a co-investigator in the Hub for Quantum Computing via Integrated and Interconnected Implementations within which his group is developing frequency-conversion interfaces to unify the operating wavelength of disparate network nodes. His broader research activities include hollow-core fibre for hosting light-matter interactions and topological modes in photonic crystal fibre.

Professor Dmitry Skryabin
Current focus of my research is on optical frequency comb and soliton generation in integrated photonics. I explore a wide range of ideas and approaches in theory, modelling, fabrication and characterisation, with recent highlights involving second-order nonlinearity and lithium-niobate as a material platform. I have a keen interest and background in various other strands of nonlinear optics, including the physical mechanisms underpinning frequency conversion, modelocking, and the generation of spectrally broadband signals in waveguides, resonators, photonic crystals, and topologically nontrivial geometries.

Dr James Stone

Professor William Wadsworth
I design, fabricate and study Photonic Crystal Fibres (PCFs). These optical fibres contain a microstructure on the scale of the wavelength of light which allows unprecedented control of the propagation of light in the fibre. My particular interests are in using PCFs for new lasers and light sources, with applications from fundamental metrology and quantum information to imaging for medical and life sciences.

Dr Stephanos Yerolatsitis
My research focuses on developing and post-processing bespoke optical fibres, such as hollow-core and multicore fibres, to enable next-generation photonic devices with advanced functionalities. I am particularly interested in studying how novel microstructured fibre geometries can be engineered to control how light is guided through an optical fibre. By combining theoretical modelling, numerical simulations, and experimental fabrication, I explore how these fibre devices can deliver tailored performance and unique optical properties. This work supports a broad range of applications, including remote sensing, classical and quantum communications, biomedical devices, and next-generation LiDAR systems.

Dr Ahmed Falah
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics. My research focuses on the design and fabrication of hollow-core optical fibres aimed at achieving ultra-low signal loss and reduced latency to meet the growing demand for high-speed data transmission. My research interests include optical fibre fabrication techniques, fibre tapering, fibre-based plasmonic sensors, fibre Bragg gratings, and numerical simulation of optical fibre designs.

Dr Kerrianne Harrington
I specialise in optical fibre fabrication and post-processing (tapering and splicing), particularly hollow core fibres, which guide light in air instead of glass. In my previous postdoctoral work, I focused on developing low-loss, reliable, and mechanically strong interconnections to integrate hollow core fibres with existing fibre systems. My interests extend beyond telecommunications to the transformative applications of optical fibres as medical tools, sensing devices and laser sources. In my work with ‘U-care’, I build fibres for UV wavelengths and health-care applications. I want to advance speciality optical fibres to address diverse challenges and unlock their full potential as innovative solutions.

Dr Tommi Juhani Isoniemi
My research focuses on chip-based photonics, polariton physics and nanofabrication, especially with III-V semiconductors and 2D materials. I’m based at the University of Sheffield in the Low-Dimensional Structures and Devices group and work part-time for Bath on lithium niobate resonators for frequency comb applications. My previous research includes optoelectronics using nanocarbons at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland and plasmonic metamaterials at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa.

Dr Alex McMillan
My research background is in nonlinear photonics and quantum optics. My work is primarily experimental and has focused on the generation and control of non-classical states of light, including single photons, entangled photon pairs, and bright squeezed states produced through nonlinear optical interactions in crystals, optical fibres, and integrated waveguide platforms. These quantum states of light have been applied in areas such as quantum information processing, quantum-enhanced imaging and sensing, single-pixel imaging, and covert rangefinding. My current research explores the generation of squeezed states in optical cavities integrated within photonic crystal fibre.

Mr Robbie Mears
I am interested in pushing the boundaries of hollow core optical fibre fabrication to enable applications at challenging wavelengths in the ultraviolet and mid-infrared regions, where conventional solid optical fibres perform poorly.

Dr Michael Woodley
I am working on quantum and nonlinear optics, specifically quantum frequency conversion of single-photon sources to optimal wavelengths for integration with optical fibres, for the benefit of future distributed quantum networks. This work is affiliated with the Quantum Computing via Integrated and Interconnected Implementations (QCI3) Hub. I am interested in both experimental and theoretical research.

Georgia Booton (Supervisor: Dr Peter Mosley)
I am an experimental physicist working in quantum optics. My PhD research explores how light-matter interactions can enable faster, more efficient multiplexing techniques. My project focuses on developing an all-optical switch, based on an atomic system. I am particularly interested in integrating our technology with existing optical fibre networks as a pathway to scalable devices, and we are working towards loading alkali atoms in hollow-core fibre.

Stephen Lin (Supervisor: Dr Alex Davis)
I am a PhD student in quantum optics, specializing in photonic crystal fibre (PCF)–based entanglement distribution for quantum applications. My research combines rigorous theoretical design and fabrication of Four Wave Mixing PCFs to generate, swap, and purify high-fidelity entangled photon pairs, overcoming fibre-loss limits and developing scalable next-generation quantum communication networks.

Mat Olszewski (Supervisor: Dr Peter Mosley)
Mateusz (Mat) Olszewski is a PhD student specialising in high-performance single-photon sources for quantum applications using photonic crystal fibre. His work combines detailed simulations with hands-on experimentation, bridging theory and practice to develop novel quantum technologies. Before his PhD, he gained practical experience within industrial R&D on project-critical components for the E-ELT and Sentinel-5 Space Mission, as well as at a startup building single-photon sources.

Athirah Rosli (Supervisor: Professor Jonathan Knight)
I am a PhD student investigating femtosecond pulse delivery in multimode antiresonant hollow-core fibres (MM-AR-HCFs). My work is primarily experimental, studying how ultrashort pulses evolve spectrally and spatially in this type of fibres with varying core diameters, transmission bands, and ring cladding designs. I aim to understand the interplay between spectral broadening, modal content, and nonlinear effects in multimodal guidance. Previously, I fabricated a single-moded antiresonant fibre operating in the blue wavelength regime for a postdoctoral researcher worked with British Telecommunications, which enhanced my knowledge in ARF fabrication and light guidance. I also collaborate with a visiting researcher on dispersion calculations to complement my current experimental findings.

Brook Salter (Supervisor: Dr Peter Mosley)
My research specialises in topological fibre optics, in which metamaterialistic fibre geometries are studied with the goal of endowing topological protection to photonic modes. Topological modes in fibre allow for the robust transport of light over long distances, improving efficiency in the face of unwanted fabrication disorder. I am currently focusing on incorporating non-Hermiticity with the goal of realising a topological fibre laser.

Will Smith (Supervisor: Dr Peter Mosley)
I am a PhD student working on optical fibre based single photon sources for quantum computers. The main focus of my research is designing and making photonic crystal fibre that will undergo four wave mixing to produce a photon pair for the photon source. I am also working on incorporating fibre bragg gratings into my photon pair generating fibre. I am hoping to apply my skills learned in my PhD to continue research in the field of photonics when I have finished.