News archive

29 April 2021
Innovative partnership to revolutionise imaging technologies for drug development
Research partners from the University of Southampton, M Squared and AstraZeneca will advance imaging technologies that improve drug and medicine discovery in a new multi-million pound collaboration.The Prosperity Partnership, which includes world-leading laser expertise from the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics (ZIPN), is set to place Southampton at the heart of innovative drug development.The collaboration is one of nine Prosperity Partnerships announced by Science Minister Amanda Solloway to be funded by a...
20 April 2021
Southampton point-of-care diagnostics technology spins out to transform lateral flow testing
Pioneering technology developed in the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics (ZIPN) has spun out and secured initial funding to unleash the next generation of lateral flow diagnostics.Highfield Diagnostics Ltd (HDx) has developed a patented photonics technology that will provide smart point-of-care testing solutions for many of the most difficult global health challenges, including COVID-19, leishmaniasis, dementia, sepsis, UTIs, AMR, tuberculosis, allergy and asthma.The spinout becomes the latest addition to a "...
14 April 2021
Research leaders launch MISSION to forge new biomedical and environmental sensors
Vision of low cost sensor technology for measuring drug concentrations
A multimillion-pound research programme led by the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics will spearhead the development of new sensors that monitor drugs, speed up cancer detection and measure the impact of climate change.The Mid-Infrared Silicon Photonic Sensors for Healthcare and Environmental Monitoring (MISSION) project, led by Professor Graham Reed, will combine world-leading expertise in photonics, electronics,...
16 February 2021
Southampton photonics expert appointed as Editor-in-Chief of international lasers and optics journal
Dr Jacob Mackenzie
Dr Jacob Mackenzie from the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics has been appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the highly respected Applied Physics B journal.Jacob is an Associate Professor in the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton, where he leads the Planar Waveguide and Slab Lasers (PWSL) research group working on novel laser gain-materials and architectures.Applied Physics B is one of the leading international, peer-reviewed journals...
16 February 2021
Silicon photonics platform redefines 3D imaging performance
An exercise ball and screen at 40m taken using a 32x16 pixel sensor
Scientists at the Optoelectronics Research Centre and Pointcloud Inc in San Francisco have developed a compact LiDAR system for machines to accurately see a three-dimensional world in motion.The low-cost solution could pave the way for large volume production of low-cost, compact and high-performance 3D imaging cameras for use in robotics, autonomous navigation systems, the mapping of building sites and healthcare.The latest tests of...
11 February 2021
International study reveals exceptional property of next generation optical fibres
Researchers from the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) and Université Laval, Canada, have successfully measured for the first time back-reflection in cutting-edge hollow-core fibres that is around 10,000 times lower than conventional optical fibres.This discovery, published this week in The Optical Society's flagship Optica journal, highlights yet another optical property in which hollow-core fibres are capable of outperforming standard optical fibres.Research into improved optical fibres is key to enable progress in numerous...

The Zepler Institute is a community of researchers from the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre, Electronics and Electrical Engineering Group, Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology Group and Quantum Light and Matter Group