Institute of Photonics Photonic Materials & Devices

This group is led by Professor Martin Dawson, and presently consists of around 18 members of staff and students.

Since 2002 the group has been fabricating gallium-nitride (GaN) micro-LEDs. The research is motivated by the potential use of these high-density arrays of micro-structured light-emitters in instrumentation and scientific applications.

We have fabricated arrays of micro-disk, micro-ring and micro-stripe devices at wavelengths from the ultraviolet (370nm) to green (540nm), and operated them in parallel-addressed (all elements on) and matrix-addressed (individually addressable) formats. These devices are being explored for use in:

  • microscopy (sectioned imaging, fluorescence lifetime imaging)
  • lab-on-chip screening
  • genechip synthesis
  • light-patterned electrodes
  • mask-free lithography]
  • hybrid organic/inorganic LEDs

The group has been involved in several large multi-partner, multi-disciplinary grants, and is currently involved in the "Ultra-parallel Visible Light Communcations" (UPVLC) project, an ambitious £4.6 million project which will explore the transformative technology of communications in an imaginative and foresighted way.

Our key research interests

Who we work with

The team collaborates with a wide range of academic and industrial partners around the world.

At present our group is part of a major EPSRC-funded project, Ultra-parallel visible light communications (UP-VLC), along with the following collaborators:

Other major academic partners, past and present, include:

  • Imperial College
  • Sheffield University
  • Heriot-Watt University
  • University of Glasgow
  • University of St. Andrews
  • Tampere University of Technology (Finland)
  • Chalmers University
  • TU-Berlin
  • University of Michigan
  • NRC Canada
  • University of Kaiserslautern
  • Peking University China,
  • Nanyang Technological University Singapore

Major industrial partners include/have included:

  • IQE Ltd
  • Samsung
  • STS Ltd
  • BTG plc
  • Coherent
  • Osram
  • Infineon
  • Agilent
  • Kamelian Ltd

View our PhD opportunities