On 30 October, the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore launched a $100 million photonics research facility. The Photonics Institute consists of five centres in the fields of optics and photonics, which will develop solutions to further advance the internet, LED lighting, and high-precision instruments.
The 4,000m2 facility received more than $100 million in funding from industry partners and various national agencies, including A*Star, DSO National Laboratories, the Economic Development Board Singapore, the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore.
One of the five new research centres is the Centre for Optical Fibre Technology (COFT), set up in conjunction with the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton in the UK. The ORC is one of the largest university-based optoelectronics research groups in the world, which over the last 40 years has made notable developments in the fields of optical fibres, lasers, waveguides, and optoelectronic devices and materials.
‘Together with Southampton, our new institute aims to become a focal point for photonics research in Singapore and to drive innovations on a global scale,’ said NTU President Professor Bertil Andersson. ‘This joint initiative is an important conduit for the transfer of scientific and technological knowledge, breakthroughs and industrial innovations between Singapore and United Kingdom.’
The Photonics Institute will be headed by three co-directors − NTU professors Tjin Swee Chuan and Nikolay Zheludev; and Professor Sir David Payne, the director of the ORC and Zepler Institute at Southampton.
Another centre is the Luminous! Centre for Excellence for Semiconductor Lighting and Displays, which will develop high-efficiency LED lighting using innovative epitaxial growth, fabrication processes, and phosphors to outperform commercially available fluorescent lighting and LEDs.
The other centres include the Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies (CDPT), the Centre for Optical and Lasers in Engineering (COLE) and the Optimus! Photonic Centre of Excellence.
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