The activity in laser cooling and trapping builds on this expertise and has developed a range of techniques for cooling and trapping of atoms, with particular interest in high-resolution laser spectroscopy. In particular, the Department and the IoP have a common postgraduate student recruitment process, administered through the DSepartment. In the Computational Nonlinear and Quantum Optics Group , theoretical and computational approaches are used to investigate problems associated with the fundamental nature of light-matter interactions, as well as the capabilities of nonlinear optical devices based on or using laser light. Research in the Photophysics Group is concerned with the study and application of the photophysics of molecular fluorescence in soft solids. Time-resolved techniques based on ultrafast technology are widely used in the Group.
Topics span fundamental research and applications.
For example, sol-gel glasses are studied with nm resolution to determine the silica particle cluster dynamics in the sol and pore morphology in the gel. The Superconducting Devices Group interest is focused on the basic physics, development and application of thin-film superconducting devices containing Josephson junctions. The Atomic, Molecular, Discharge and Plasma Physics Group research interests lie in the spectroscopy, reaction kinetics and dynamics of systems ranging from astrophysical and fusion plasmas, low and high temperature laboratory discharges and plasmas to studies of the stratosphere. A wide range of modern experimental spectroscopic and other diagnostic techniques are employed to investigate the fundamental atomic and molecular processes, all strongly supported by parallel theoretical computational studies. The Environmental Optics Group has methods which are eminently suitable for remote sensing and for the unattended monitoring of environmental variables.