Professor K Alan Shore
*** Detailed descriptions of current activities will be found by following the link to the Biography Page :Biography page
Bangor Research in Optoelectronics ( BRO)
Professor K.Alan Shore (KAS) leads a group with research interests in semiconductor laser optoelectronics , optical communications , quantum optics and nonlinear dynamics Group Members. Research projects are directed at advancing the design and applications of optoelectronic devices and , in particular laser diodes and optical waveguides. Areas of interest range from basic device operating principles through to matters of engineering design .A complementary interest is in the nonlinear dynamics of optical devices and systems.
His personal research work has been in the area of optoelectronic device modelling and design with particular emphasis on nonlinearities in laser diodes and semiconductor optical waveguides.His current research interests include multiwave mixing and harmonic generation in semiconductor lasers , intersubband semiconductor lasers , vertical cavity semiconductor lasers and dynamical properties of semiconductor nonlinear optical waveguides.Publications by KAS are found here : Publications
He co-founded and acts as Organiser and Programme Committee Chair for the international conference on Semiconductor and Integrated Optoelectronics ( SIOE ) held annually in Cardiff,Wales,UK . Whilst a member of the Quantum Electronics Group of the Institute of Physics,UK he organised symposia on Quantum Optoelectronics and was the Programme Committee Chair for the 1997 UK Quantum Electronics Conference ( QE '13 ) held in Cardiff September 1997. He is a member of the Programme Committee for the 1999 UK Quantum Electronics Conference ( QE '14 ) to be held in Manchester , September 1999. He was a committee member of the Optical Society of America , Integrated Photonics Research ( IPR'96) Conference , Boston,USA,1996 and European Liaison Committee Chair for IPR'98 which was held in Victoria ,BC, Canada ,March 1998.He was a committee member for the Integrated Photonics Research ( IPR'99) Conference , Santa Barbara ,CA,USA,July 1999 and for the European Conference on Integrated Optics ( ECIO) , Torino,Italy,April 1999. He is a co-organiser of a Rank Prize Symposium on Nonlinear Dynamics in Lasers to be held in the Lake District, UK in August 2002.
He is also active in the promotion of optoelectronics technology transfer particularly via the Welsh Optoelectronics Forum Welsh Optoelectronics Forum and the ICON Centre of Excellence.
Three principal research themes are being developed within the group.
Advanced Optoelectronic Device Development :
To achieve enhanced functionality and performance of semiconductor and polymer optoelectronic devices. Effort is , for example , being devoted to the design of unipolar intersubband semiconductor lasers - so-called Quantum Cascade lasers - with emission wavelengths in the mid and far-infra red Intersubband Lasers. Such lasers would have widespread applications in environmental sensing and monitoring , medicine and space-based comunications.Work is also underway on the principles and applications of multiwave mixing to generate phase conjugate signals in semiconductor lasers Phase Conjugation .
Engineering Optoelectronics
Significant technical challenges arise in the process of transfering advances in device technology to produce marketable optoelectronic products. In this context a project is underway to examine the performance of laser diodes in commercial packages Laser Diode Packaging . Such issues also arise in relation to the utilisation of VCSELs which are foreseen as being key semiconductor lasers in optical interconnection technologies. Work is underway on a number of aspects of VCSEL behaviour including transverse and polarisation mode selection in external cavity VCSELs VCSELs .
It is aimed to extend this work to consider to address issues associated with the commercialisation of semiconductor optoelectronic devices and the development of low-cost optical components
Nonlinear Devices & Systems
Work on semiconductor laser packaging relies on expertise in nonlinear dynamics where recent advances in the control of chaos may be put to use in improving the operating characteristics of practical laser diodes.Further opportunities for exploiting nonlinear dynamics are being sought in the context of data encryption for secure optical communications systems Optical Data Encryption.
Collaboration
Much of the work funded by the EPSRC, the Royal Society , and the British Council is being undertaken within national and international collaborative projects involving both universities and industry. Current international collaborations involve groups in Barcelona , Berlin, Minsk ,Mallorca and Santander and contacts are maintained with groups in Australia, Canada and Denmark .
Current and Recent Research Projects Include
1) Quantum Well structures for intersubband population inversion : EPSRC ( 1995-1998 )
2) Packaging and hybrid integration of semiconductor lasers : EPSRC - in collaboration with University of Bath and NORTEL ( 1996-1999 )
3) Phase conjugate optical repeaters and amplifiers in collaboration with University of Bath(1997-2000)
4) Infra-structure for chaotic optical data encryption ,in collaboration with NORTEL and University of Bath (1997-2000)
5) Optical chaos cryptography using laser-diode transmitters ( OCCULT) ,Acciones Integradas, collaboration with Department of Physics, University de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain( 1997-98)
6) Nonlinear Dynamics in laser diodes : Royal Society Collaborative Project with the Institute of Physics , Minsk, Belarus ( 1995-1997)
7) Polarisation properties of semiconductor lasers, Academic Research Collaboration ( ARC) with Max Born Institute, Adlershof,Berlin(1994-96)
8) Modal Properties of Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Diodes, -in collaboration with the University of Bath and Sheffield University (1993-96 )
9) Semiconductor Frequency Doublers and Laser Diodes on 111 Substrates - in collaboration with University of Bath and University of Wales College of Cardiff (1992-95)
10) Advanced High Power Tapered Waveguide Semiconductor Lasers : - in collaboration with the University of Bath (1994-96)
Detailed descriptions of the projects are given here :