Computational Modelling Group

MEMS

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are integrated devices that incorporate mechanical functionalities on a chip. They range in size from the sub-micron to the millimetre regime and a particular chip may contain any number of elements from a few to millions. MEMS are employed in a rapidly growing range of applications, such as printer cartridges, accelerometers in cars, biosensors and optical switches in telecommunication networks.

For queries about this topic, contact Peter Horak.

View the calendar of events relating to this topic.

Projects

Cavity-Mediated Cooling

Peter Horak, Timothy Freegarde (Investigators), Andre Xuereb

Optical resonators enhance the interaction of light with matter while simultaneously acting as a temporal buffer. Both effects can be exploited to generate light-induced friction, or cooling, forces on atoms, molecules, or micromirrors. We investigate various aspects of these effects through numerical simulations, assisted by approximate analytical models, in this EPSRC and ESF sponsored project.

Continuously Tunable Optical Buffer

Peter Horak (Investigator)

The project aims to design, fabricate and test a novel integrated all-optical buffer device that is based on MEMS technology and provides a continuously tunable delay for optical pulses over a broad wavelength region. Such a device could play a crucial role in future packet-switched optical networks, photonic integrated circuits and coherent light based applications such as optically steered phase array antennas, LIDAR and optical coherence tomography.

This EPSRC funded project is a collaboration between the Optoelectronics Research Centre, Southampton, and University College London.

ยต-VIS Computed Tomography Centre

Ian Sinclair, Richard Boardman, Dmitry Grinev, Philipp Thurner, Simon Cox, Jeremy Frey, Mark Spearing, Kenji Takeda (Investigators)

A dedicated centre for computed tomography (CT) at Southampton, providing complete support for 3D imaging science, serving Engineering, Biomedical, Environmental and Archaeological Sciences. The centre encompasses five complementary scanning systems supporting resolutions down to 200nm and imaging volumes in excess of one metre: from a matchstick to a tree trunk, from an ant's wing to a gas turbine blade.

People

Simon Cox
Professor, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
Jeremy Frey
Professor, Chemistry (FNES)
Ian Sinclair
Professor, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
Mark Spearing
Professor, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
Nicolas Green
Reader, Electronics and Computer Science (FPAS)
Peter Horak
Reader, Optoelectronics Research Centre
Tiina Roose
Reader, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
Timothy Freegarde
Senior Lecturer, Physics & Astronomy (FPAS)
Gwenael Gabard
Lecturer, Institute of Sound & Vibration Research (FEE)
Philipp Thurner
Lecturer, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
Richard Boardman
Senior Research Fellow, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
Reno Choi
Senior Research Fellow, Geography (FSHS)
Dmitry Grinev
Research Fellow, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
Ugur Mart
Research Fellow, Engineering Sciences (FEE)
George Winstone
Postgraduate Research Student, Physics & Astronomy (FPAS)
Andre Xuereb
Postgraduate Research Student, Physics & Astronomy (FPAS)
Petrina Butler
Administrative Staff, Research and Innovation Services
Kenji Takeda
Alumnus, Engineering Sciences (FEE)