David Richardson | |
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![]() David Richardson at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2018 | |
Born | David John Richardson 1964 (age 59–60)[2] |
Education | Taunton’s College |
Alma mater | University of Sussex (BSc, PhD)[3][4] |
Awards | Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2013) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | University of Southampton |
Thesis | The production of, and experiments with, monochromatic ultra cold neutrons (1989) |
Website | www |
David John Richardson FRS FREng[5] (born 1964) is a Professor and Deputy Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton.[3][1][6]
Richardson was educated at St George’s Roman Catholic School, Southampton and Taunton’s College.[2] He completed his Bachelor of Science degree and PhD in Physics at the University of Sussex in 1989.[4]
Richardson is a pioneer in the field of photonics, best known for his work on fibre optics and their applications.[5] He has played a leading role in developing techniques to scale the data-carrying capacity of future optical communication networks to keep up with society's demand for ever increasing internet bandwidth.[5] He has developed optical fibres of high performance – capable, for example, of transmitting large quantities of data across the internet at high speed.[5]
Richardson was also one of the first to demonstrate the potential of compact, flexible, pulsed fibre lasers operating over a broad range of powers, pulse durations and wavelengths.[5] Over many years he has extended the performance limits of fibre lasers, making them strong contenders to conventional lasers and contributing to their commercial success.[5] His work extends to fibres capable of delivering kilowatts of optical power for manufacturing with lasers.[5]