Thin films of organic molecules and polymers play a critical role in a huge number of electronic, photonic, mechanical, and medical technologies that are crucial to modern life. Significant examples include antistiction coatings for micro-mechanical systems such as computer magnetic disk drives, multi-layer films for light-emitting devices and flexible displays, thin film transistors for computer and TV displays, and biodegradable coatings for time-release drug delivery. Current industrial technologies for deposition of such films have some significant drawbacks. For example, thin films of conjugated polymers, used in organic light-emitting diodes and photovoltaic solar cells, have been fabricated by a variety of methods based on solution casting processes, but this leads to solvent induced conformational defects that adversely influence the optoelectronic behaviour. As a solution-free alternative, thermal evaporation is viable for short chain oligomers and small organic molecules, but is very challenging for long-chain conjugated polymers. As another example, thin films of PTFE are desirable for a large number of applications due to its biocompatibility, low frictional resistance, chemical inertness, and low dielectric constant, and again many techniques have been developed for its deposition but each has certain drawbacks. For example, spin coating is problematic due to a lack of suitable solvents and a need for post-annealing that can be undesirable for microelectronic structures, while plasma polymerisation of fluorocarbon monomers and sputtering techniques produce fluorine deficient PTFE films. It is for these reasons that laser-based deposition of polymer films has become important. UV lasers may be used for pulsed laser deposition of polymers but it is difficult to grow a film with the same chemical structure as the starting material. Typically, the polymer is converted to monomers and small oligomeric fragments in the plume and repolymerisation occurs upon deposition. However, if repolymerisation is incomplete or if there are missing groups due to direct scission photoreactions then the film will be chemically modified. Matrix-assisted pulsed-laser evaporation aims to resolve this issue by dissolving the polymer in a volatile solvent, which is then frozen to create a solid target. Ideally the polymer would be transparent to the incident light and the host highly absorbent, thereby limiting direct interaction between the laser and the polymer. However, this ideal situation is not easily accomplished using UV lasers.These problems have led to the development of resonant infrared pulsed laser deposition (RIR-PLD) where excitation of vibrational resonances can lead to the breaking of relatively weak intermolecular bonds and deposition of polymer films with unmodified chemical structure. This technique can be applied directly to the polymer or in a matrix-assisted format. However, the relevant vibrational modes lie within the molecular fingerprint region of the IR spectrum (2-10um) where there is an unfortunate dearth of appropriate laser sources. Consequently, the vast majority of RIR-PLD experiments to date have been performed using a free-electron laser. While this source is ideal for demonstration purposes it is certainly not suitable for a commercial processing facility.We therefore propose to build a novel, compact and efficient source of high-energy picosecond pulses with broad tunability in the mid-IR. The source is based on an synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator with a fibre feedback arm to conveniently allow long cavity lengths, relatively low repetition rates, and hence high pulse energies. It will be pumped by a simple gain switched diode laser, scaled to high average powers by an Yb-doped fibre amplifier. This table-top replacement for the FEL will revolutionise thin-film polymer deposition and consequently impact strongly upon a number of important applications.

Spectral analysis provides a vital technique to fingerprint the vast array of chemicals, materials and biological matter we encounter on a daily basis. It is central to detecting the presence of noxious gasses or explosives, of contaminants in food, and vitally the correct chemical structure of medicines. This fellowship will deliver a new technology outperforming the state of the art infrared detection, based on recent developments in quantum mechanics. Infrared spectroscopy is far from being a well-established technology, mostly due to the limited sensitivity standard detectors have in the infrared part of the spectrum. A limited sensitivity, in turn, corresponds to a limit in the minimum detectable amount of the chemical compound under scrutiny, hindering the deployment of infrared spectroscopy. This fellowship will address such problem combining two recently developed techniques: time-domain spectroscopy and quantum metrology. Time-domain spectroscopy is an approach developed in the last two decades and relies on measuring a signal that arises from the nonlinear interaction between ultrashort pulses and the infrared field under investigation. In contrast to standard infrared spectroscopy, the measured quantity is not at infrared wavelengths but in the visible region, where detectors have better performances. The detection is therefore not bound to the limited sensitivity of infrared sensors. This technique too is affected by a limit in the sensitivity, which arises from the quantised nature of the radiation in the ultrashort probing pulse and is known as the standard quantum limit. In-tempo will transform infrared spectroscopy, harnessing quantum metrology to overcome the standard quantum limit faced by time-domain spectrometers. Quantum optical metrology studies ways to improve the sensitivity of measurements using quantum states of light, instead of conventional fields. Squeezed and NOON states are the main players in this discipline. Squeezed states have a lower quantum noise on one of their properties, such as the amplitude, in exchange for a higher noise in a conjugate characteristic, such as the phase. NOON states are non-classical wave packets acquiring twice the phase of their classical counterparts when used in interferometers. Twin beams are electromagnetic fields featuring intensity correlations at the quantum level, i.e. more equal than any replica obtained by classical means. This fellowship will use squeezed, NOON and twin beam states instead of classic ultrashort pulses in a time-domain spectroscopy approach. This way it will overcome the standard quantum limit in infrared spectroscopy. The new family of infrared-time domain spectrometers generated by this fellowship will be benchmarked against state-of-the-art traditional spectrometers. Potential market impact and routes to commercialisation will be investigated with the support of the engaged industrial partners.

We propose to establish a world-leading capability in the measurement and imaging of molecular and particulate species in gas turbine aero-engine exhausts. The FLITES project proposed here will break new ground in the fundamental engineering knowledge base of measurement and imaging in the extreme environment of the turbine exhaust plume. It will enhance turbine-related R&D capacity in both academia and industry by opening up access to exhaust plume chemistry with penetrating spatio-temporal resolution. It will underpin a new phase of low-net-carbon development that is underway in aviation, based on bio-derived fuels, and which entails extensive R&D in turbine engineering, turbine combustion, and fuel product formulation. There has never been a substantial investigation of the utility of emissions data to determine the condition and behaviour of internal engine components, especially the combustor. FLITES will open a new door to penetrate the complex phenomena that dictate the performance and limitations of advanced gas turbines, and will enable critical assessment of the performance of novel fuels. The project focuses on emissions of soot, unburned hydrocarbons (UHC) and NO, which are all regulated by certification authorities, and CO2, as a marker for assessment of individual fuel injection nozzle performance within the annular multi-nozzle combustor of an aero gas turbine. FLITES builds upon the expertise of the UK's world-leading groups in fibre-lasers, gas-detection opto-electronics, and chemical species tomography (CST), allied to its industrial strengths in aero-engine manufacture and aviation fuel technology. High-power fibre-lasers, operating at wavelengths that give access to gaseous molecular species through vibrational-rotational absorption spectroscopy, offer radically new measurement architectures and sensitivity levels. FLITES will establish the new gas detection technology of Tunable Fibre-Laser Absorption Spectroscopy, TFLAS. Soot will be imaged via the novel technique of near-IR continuous-wave laser-induced incandescence (CW-LII), in a planar tomographic set-up previously invented by the applicants for the fluorescence case. The high light output power available from the fibre-lasers to be demonstrated in FLITES will transform the logistics and sensitivity of CST with (relatively) large numbers of simultaneous measurement paths through the plume. Parallel threads of research will be facilitated by using near-IR diode lasers and existing mid-IR sources in single-path systems, which also mitigate against research risks. The techniques developed in the university laboratories will be implemented on a full-scale aero-engine mounted on a testbed at Rolls-Royce. The consortium will work in intensive collaboration, directed by a management team that comprises the Principal Investigators of the three universities, two Rolls-Royce staff and one from Shell. Progress will be reviewed on a quarterly basis, and forward plans will be optimally adjusted on a half-yearly schedule. FLITES will register strongly on all four of RCUK's major dimensions of impact: - Knowledge economy: though stronger academic positions in fibre laser technology, gaseous measurement and imaging technology, and gas turbine diagnostics; - Manufacturing economy: through improved gas turbine aero-engine technology, more incisive assessment of biofuel performance, development of commercial tomography and gas detection systems, and fibre lasers for gas sensing; - Training: four PDRAs and two PhD students funded directly by FLITES, and further PhD students funded by the universities' DTA (or other) funds, and a number of staff in the partner companies; - Society: by offering a radically new means to measure and characterise the emissions of low-level pollutants and CO2 from aero-engine turbines, making a substantial contribution towards achieving sustainable commercial aviation.

This Fellowship application will provide support for a leading Photonics Engineering Academic, Prof Peter Smith, University of Southampton, to build a research team to address industry and academic led challenges in Quantum Technologies. The project is entitled QuINTESSEnCE - standing for Quantum Integrated Nonlinear Technology Enabling Stable, Scaleable Engineered for Commercial Exploitation. This title reflects our desire to develop technology that will be stable and applicable in real-world applications, and move that towards developing a supply chain to take Quantum Technologies towards commercial reality. The work will focus on building optical components and photonic manufacturing capability for the next generation of science and, by working closely with companies, to provide the components needed to underpin the application of quantum enabled technology to address a wide range of societal and economic challenges. Two core technologies will be developed, the first being lasers that are exceptionally stable and low noise, and ideally suited for use in a wide range of science applications. The second technology will see the development of new optical materials capable of converting the wavelength (colour) of laser light, efficiently and cheaply. The approach will use high reflecting cavities to enhance the light fields, giving high conversion efficiency and, importantly, exploiting the laws of quantum science to create photons with unique properties. The highlight of the project will be manufacturing demonstrators of our quantum enabled optical technology to take to companies and end-users that will act to prove their value. Two demonstration areas are planned, firstly detectors that will be able to see extremely low light levels in the infra-red without the need for expensive cooling to prevent noise. The second will be to use our lasers and cavities to show advantage in measuring optical fibre links while they are in use, improving data reliability on the internet and increasing down-load speeds. Detectors and other devices will be based on fundamental quantum properties, in which two photons can be fused together to create a single photon with higher energy but preserving fundamental quantum information in the photons themselves.