Professor Jennifer Hastie
Institute of Photonics
Personal statement
Professor Jennifer Hastie is Director of the Institute of Photonics and leads a research team with a main interest in optically-pumped semiconductor and solid-state lasers for high spatial and spectral brightness and broad tunability at novel wavelengths.
Jennifer built her team with an EPSRC Challenging Engineering Award (EP/I022791/1), gaining an international reputation for research in the area of narrow linewidth semiconductor disk lasers (SDLs) with advanced wavelength flexibility for applications including metrology, spectroscopy, and lithography; spanning ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral regions through the use of novel materials and intracavity nonlinear frequency conversion techniques. A particular research highlight was the development of intracavity-pumped tunable crystalline Raman lasers, including CW diamond Raman lasers.
As a result of the group’s work in the area of ultra-narrow linewidth lasers, Jennifer became a member of the Management Board of the UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing and Timing, leading the development of novel lasers for high performance optical clock systems during both Phase 1 and Phase II of the programme (Dec 2014 - Nov 2024). She is now Deputy Principal Investigator of the National Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation, and Timing; launched December 2024 for Phase III (EP/Z533178/1).
Jennifer is also co-lead of the Photonics & Quantum Accelerator (PQA) launched in March 2024 under the EPSRC scheme for Place-Based Impact Accelerators (EP/Y024109/1). The PQA is a £5M programme bringing together researchers from the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, and St Andrews, and local authorities and industry bodies, to advance the growth of the photonics sector in Scotland's Central Belt.
Jennifer is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and in 2019 she served as a lecturer on the OSA Siegman International School on Lasers at the University of Rochester, USA. In 2023 she was elected an Optica Fellow for "leadership in the photonics and quantum technology community and pioneering technical contributions in the area of narrow-linewidth lasers."
Prize And Awards
- Elected Optica Fellow
- Recipient
- 2023
- EPSRC Challenging Engineering award winner 2011
- Recipient
- 2011
- Elected Senior Member of IEEE
- Recipient
- 2012
- Elected Senior Member of OSA
- Recipient
- 2011
- RAEng Research Fellowship
- Recipient
- 2004
- Applied Physics Letters Front Cover
- Recipient
- 8/7/2024
Publications
- Low phase noise operation of a cavity-stabilized 698 nm AlGaInP-based VECSEL
- Moriya Paulo Hisao, Lee Martin, Hastie Jennifer E
- Optics Express Vol 31, pp. 28018-28025 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.494374
- Monolithic VECSEL for stable kHz linewidth
- Lee Martin, Moriya Paulo Hisao, Hastie Jennifer E
- Optics Express Vol 31, pp. 38786-38797 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.490046
- InGaN-diode-pumped AlGaInP VECSEL with sub-kHz linewidth at 689 nm
- Moriya Paulo H, Casula Riccardo, Chappell George A, Parrotta Daniele C, Ranta Sanna, Kahle Hermann, Guina Mircea, Hastie Jennifer E
- Optics Express Vol 29, pp. 3258-3268 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.416210
- Cascaded crystalline Raman lasers for extended wavelength coverage : continuous-wave, third-Stokes operation
- Casula Riccardo, Penttinen Jussi-Pekka, Guina Mircea, Kemp Alan J, Hastie Jennifer E
- Optica Vol 5, pp. 1406-1413 (2018)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.5.001406
- Suspension and transfer printing of ZnCdMgSe membranes from an InP substrate
- Chappell George A, Guilhabert Benoit, Garcia Thor, Zhao Kuaile, Watson Ian M, Dawson Martin D, Tamargo Maria C, Hastie Jennifer E
- Optical Materials Express Vol 10, pp. 3328-3341 (2020)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.411613
- Sub-kHz-linewidth VECSELs for cold atom experiments
- Moriya Paulo Hisao, Singh Yeshpal, Bongs Kai, Hastie Jennifer E
- Optics Express Vol 28, pp. 15943-15953 (2020)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.390982
Professional Activities
- Royal Academy of Engineering Working Group for the independent review of quantum infrastructure (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 2023
- QuantERA Strategic Advisory Board (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 2022
- Speaker at the Royal Society Conference on Quantum Information
- Speaker
- 20/2/2025
- SPIE Photonics West VECSELs XIII
- Keynote/plenary speaker
- 31/1/2024
- Photonics & Quantum Accelerator (External organisation)
- Chair
- 2024
- Science and Scotland Showcase, Westminster Scottish Affairs Committee
- Presenter
- 4/12/2023
Projects
- QEPNT A UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation and Timing - Full Stage
- Hastie, Jennifer (Principal Investigator) Arnold, Aidan (Co-investigator) Griffin, Paul (Co-investigator) Ingleby, Stuart (Co-investigator) McGilligan, James Patrick (Co-investigator) Riis, Erling (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2029
- UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing and Timing
- Griffin, Paul (Principal Investigator) Hunter, Dominic (Principal Investigator) Johnson, Steven (Principal Investigator) McGilligan, James Patrick (Principal Investigator) Moriya, Paulo (Principal Investigator) Riis, Erling (Principal Investigator) Arnold, Aidan (Co-investigator) Griffin, Paul (Co-investigator) Hastie, Jennifer (Co-investigator) Ingleby, Stuart (Co-investigator) Moriya, Paulo (Research Co-investigator) Moriya, Paulo (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2019 - 30-Jan-2024
- Ultra-Precision Optical Engineering With Short-Wavelength Semiconductor Disk Laser Technology (Challenging Engineering)
- Hastie, Jennifer (Principal Investigator)
- It has been 50 years since the first operation of the laser, yet there are still many new applications being made possible by continued innovation in laser technology. A range of exciting optical engineering techniques are currently being developed by scientists and engineers to achieve ever greater precision in sensing, manufacturing, and measurement: from the fabrication of nanometre-scale crystal structures created by laser light patterns to the probing of atomic energy levels to define the time and frequency standards used for communications and navigation. Such visible- and ultraviolet-based (short wavelength) research is very active; however, investigators are currently making do and having to become rather adept at converting current lasers with complex systems for beam shaping, amplification and frequency conversion which generally fall short of the desired wavelength, power and finesse, and confine this technology to the lab. This programme will develop a new class of simplified and tailored short wavelength laser systems in collaboration with these scientists and engineers in order to address a gap in the laser toolbox, dramatically improve capability, and bring these currently specialist techniques out of the lab to the level of widely deployed technology. The core laser technology for the optical engineering systems targeted will be semiconductor disk lasers (SDLs). SDLs are distinct from conventional high performance lasers in that the gain material is engineered on the nanometre scale. Rather than a laser crystal (millimetres long), a flow of dye, or a pressurised tube of gas, light amplification is provided by several quantum wells (QWs): ultra-thin (few nanometres thick) layers of semiconductor, positioned with nanometre-scale accuracy with respect to the light field in the laser. Aside from commercial advantages in terms of compactness, cost and wavelength flexibility, this set-up is fundamentally suited to the very high coherence, low noise laser performance required for ultra-precision optical engineering. Nearly all SDLs operate in the near- or mid-infrared regions of the spectrum; however, many more applications will open up if their full potential for visible and ultraviolet operation is realised. The unique capability in short wavelength SDLs that Dr. Hastie's team has developed over the past 5 years means that she is now in a position to push the technology to target genuine applications for wider benefit. She has identified UK and international research partners for the realisation of high finesse semiconductor laser systems in the visible and UV, together with end users at research institutions in the UK. The Challenging Engineering award will provide the platform necessary to lead this research network and address the identified challenges. Three different optical engineering systems will be targeted initially:* interference lithography - an effective, low-cost method of fabricating nanostructures over a large area and widely deployed in the fabrication of circuits in the semiconductor industry* ultraviolet spectroscopy - for measuring the concentrations of important atmospheric trace gases* optical clocks - for the improvement in time and frequency standards used for communications, satellite navigation and testing of fundamental physics. These areas are complementary in terms of the required laser engineering and performance, will achieve a step-change in capability through the application of short wavelength SDLs, and are sufficiently diverse to provide scope to actively pursue multiple promising research directions and applications, many not yet predicted.
- 01-Jan-2011 - 30-Jan-2016
- DTP 2224 University of Strathclyde | Coyne, Lewis
- Kemp, Alan (Principal Investigator) Hastie, Jennifer (Co-investigator) Coyne, Lewis (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 01-Jan-2028
- Partnership Resource Funding with Imperial College London: "Dual-frequency VECSEL for quantum sensing: creating synergy for successful technology demonstration"
- Moriya, Paulo (Principal Investigator) Anderson, Steven (Co-investigator) Hastie, Jennifer (Co-investigator) Sewell, Henry (Co-investigator) Cotter, Joseph (Co-investigator)
- Project to promote researcher exchange between the Institute of Photonics and Imperial College London to create synergy for future joint experiments.
Awarded by the UK National QT Hub for Sensing and Timing. Total £6.6k - 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2024
- EPSRC Place Based Impact Accelerator for Photonics in Central Scotland
- Hastie, Jennifer (Principal Investigator) Riis, Erling (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 29-Jan-2028
Contact
Professor
Jennifer
Hastie
Institute of Photonics
Email: jennifer.hastie@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 4664