Photonics Research

The ORC is a research organisation with roots going back to the invention of the optical fibre in the 1960's. Today we are working on a vast array of projects and fields, which are continually evolving as new discoveries lead us in new directions.

Our research is focussed in a wide variety of applications, making use of many different science and engineering disciplines.

To drive the basic science, technology and innovation to enable future revolutions. Pulling together some of the best talent in photonics, we can embody and enable leadership on many fronts. Our historic achievements must and will be matched by future discovery.

We are justifiably proud of the quality of our research which once again was illustrated through excellent ratings in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008.

Our research was submitted to the RAE jointly with the University’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) and with the School of Physics and Astronomy (Physics).

A total of 32 ORC staff returned their research, 23 with ECS and 9 with Physics.

The research submitted by ECS ranked joint second in the country, with 85% of the research work either receiving the top 4* or 3* ratings.

Over half of the research submitted by the School of Physics and Astronomy was rated as World Leading (4*) or Internationally Excellent (3*), for the second RAE running.

We have nearly 30 research groups working on a variety of individual and collaborative projects. A common theme of our research is to apply our extensive optical toolbox to new and developing areas, such as biosensing and manufacturing. more»

The ORC has a long history of innovation and industrial collaborations. There are nine companies in the Southampton area with roots in the ORC, and many consultancy projects currently under way with a wide range of industrial partners. more»

We maintain an online database of all ORC-originated academic papers and other publications, available to search and (for some) download. This includes work stretching back over more than 40 years. more»

The ORC works with many other research institutions around the world, as well as interdepartmentally within the University of Southampton. more»

This section contains interesting articles for non-scientists and scientists, to give you an idea of the kind of work we do. more»