Nigel Langford
Reader
Troubled by small balls (squash and golf) and big knobs (munros). I was born in Hull, Yorkshire, four years to the day before England won the World cup in 1966. I was raised in Ipswich, the best football team in East Anglia. In 1983, I graduated with a BSc (Hons) Physics from Imperial College and was awarded a PhD in 1988, also from Imperial College. Following research assistant positions in St. Andrews and Toronto, I came to Strathclyde where I was appointed to a lectureship in 1992. From 1992 to 1997, I was an EPSRC Advanced Fellow. I am currently Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Recruitment.
| e: n.langford 
strath.ac.uk | t: 0141 548 3077 | u: http://photonics.phys.strath.ac.uk/
|
Research
My current research interests are centred around the use of quantum-cascade lasers for gas sensing and non-linear optics.
Highlights
1st cw passively mode-locked dye laser other than R6G / DODCI
1st Demonstration of coupled cavity / additive pulse mode-locking of lasers in non telecommunications window
1st demonstration of interacting solitons in optical fibre lasers
Organiser for the Quantum Electronics & Photonics Conference 2001; Programme Committee member for CLEO Europe 2001
Invited to speak at the Tuneable Diode Laser Spectroscopy Conference (Florence 2005) and the SPIE Annual meeting (Seattle 2002)
Royal Society of Chemistry invited review “Quantum cascade semiconductor lasers: from trace gas sensing to non-linear optics”, 2005
Generated IP underpinning successful spin-out, Cascade Technologies Ltd.
Selected publications
W.Zhang, T.Ackemann, M.Schmid, N.Langford, A.I.Ferguson, "Femtosecond synchronously mode-locked vertical-external cavity surface-emitting laser", Opt. Exp. 14, 1810-1821 (2006) doi: 10.1364/OE.14.001810
A.Cheesman, J.A.Smith, M.N.R.Ashfold, N.Langford, S.Wright, G.Duxbury, "Application of a quantum cascade laser for time-resolved, in situ probing of CH4/H2 and C2H2/H2 gas mixtures during microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of diamond", J. Phys. Chem. A 110, 2821-2828 (2006) doi: 10.1021/jp056622u
A.Major, J.S.Aitchison, P.W.E.Smith, N.Langford, A.I.Ferguson, "Efficient Raman shifting of high-energy picosecond pulses into the eye-safe 1.5-µm spectral region by use of a KGd(WO4)2 crystal", Opt. Lett. 30, 421-423 (2005) doi: 10.1364/OL.30.000421
A.Major, J.S.Aitchison, P.W.E.Smith, N.Langford, A.I.Ferguson, "Coherent two-photon absorption spectroscopy of the Raman-active KGd(WO4)2 crystal", Opt. Lett. 29, 2896-2898 (2004) doi: 10.1364/OL.29.002896
E.Normand, M.McCulloch, G.Duxbury, N.Langford, "Fast, real-time spectrometer based on a pulsed quantum-cascade laser", Opt. Lett. 28, 16-18 (2003) doi: 10.1364/OL.28.000016
A.Major, I.Nikolakakos, J.S.Aitchison, A.I.Ferguson, N.Langford, P.W.E.Smith, "Characterization of the nonlinear refractive index of the laser crystal Yb:KGd(WO4)2", Appl. Phys. B-Lasers Opt. 77, 433-436 (2003) doi: 10.1007/s00340-003-1252-1
A.Major, N.Langford, S.T.Lee, A.I.Ferguson, "Additive-pulse mode locking of a thin-disk Yb:YAG laser", Appl. Phys. B-Lasers Opt. 76, 505-508 (2003) doi: 10.1007/s00340-002-1004-7
M.T.McCulloch, E.L.Normand, N.Langford, G.Duxbury, D.A.Newnham, "Highly sensitive detection of trace gases using the time-resolved frequency downchirp from pulsed quantum-cascade lasers", J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 20, 1761-1768 (2003) doi: 10.1364/JOSAB.20.001761
A.Major, N.Langford, T.Graf, D.Burns, A.I.Ferguson, "Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:KGd(WO4)2 laser with 1-W average output power", Opt. Lett. 27, 1478-1480 (2002) doi: 10.1364/OL.27.001478
A.Major, N.Langford, T.Graf, A.I.Ferguson, "Additive-pulse mode locking of a diode-pumped Nd:KGd(WO4)2 laser", Appl. Phys. B-Lasers Opt. 75, 467-469 (2002) doi: 10.1007/s00340-002-1004-7
Current Grants
Nigel Langford, , , , ,
Cascade Technologies (2009-2013) £0
Title: Development of a Compact Coupling Scheme for QC Laser Based Field Instruments - Studentship
