In this proposal we will design, fabricate and employ a novel multiple materials additive manufacturing (MMAM) equipment to enable us to make optical fibre preforms (both in conventional and microstructured fibre geometries) in silica and other host glass materials. In existing low-loss fibre preform fabrication methods, based on either chemical vapour deposition technique for conventional solid index guiding fibres or 'stack and draw' process for micro-structured fibre, it is very difficult to control composition in 3D. Our proposed MMAM can be utilised to produce complex preforms, which is otherwise too difficult or time consuming or currently impossible to achieve by the existing fabrication techniques. This will open up a route to manufacture novel fibre structures in silica and other glasses for a wide range of applications, covering from telecommunications, sensing, lab-in-a-fibre, metamaterial fibre, to high-power laser, and subsequently we are expected to gain significant economic growth in the future.

Currently, special fibres are a crucial enabling technology that communicates worldwide, navigates airliners, monitors oil wells, cuts steel, and shoots down missiles (and even mosquitoes!). New classes of special optical fibres have demonstrated the potential to extend the impact of optical fibres well beyond the telecommunications arena, in areas as diverse as defence, industrial processing, marine engineering, biomedicine, DNA processing and astronomy. They are making an impact and commercial inroads in fields such as industrial sensing, bio-medical laser delivery systems, military gyro sensors, as well as automotive lighting and control - to name just a few - and span applications as diverse as oil well downhole pressure sensors to intra-aortic catheters, to high power lasers that can cut and weld steel. Optical fibres and fibre-related products not only penetrate existing markets but also, more significantly, they expand the application space into areas that are impossible by conventional technologies. To fulfil this potential and further revolutionise manufacturing, there is a strong need to continue innovating and manufacturing market-worthy fibres, in order to sustain the growth in the fast expanding fibre-based manufacturing sectors.From its inception in the 1960s, the UK has played a major role in shaping the optical fibre industry, and the highly regarded Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton is at the forefront. Our vision is to build upon the rich expertise and extensive facilities that are already in place to create a world-class, industry-led Centre for advanced manufacturing processes for new photonic components and materials that will fuel the growth of UK companies, enabling them to expand their product portfolio, enhance competitiveness and increase their market penetration and overall share. We will liaise closely with UK and other European Research Centres to advance further the fibre and related material technology, as well as increase the application space. The Centre is expected to play a key role in job and wealth creation in the expanding and highly competitive advanced technology and manufacturing sector. The UK industrial sector accounts for a production volume in photonics of EUR 5.2 billion, which corresponds to 12% of the European volume, and 2.3% of the world market. Particularly notable about the photonics industrial sector is that it comprises a majority of SMEs, who typically do not have the economies of scale nor the financial resources to invest heavily in infrastructure on their own. Use of the Innovative Manufacturing funding mechanism, complemented by industrial user-provided direct and in-kind contributions of ~4M (similar in amount to that sought from EPSRC for the establishment of this IMRC) , will supply the seed funding and focus needed to research and develop the next generation fibre material and technology platforms, which in turn will fuel the growth in photonics related manufacturing. The establishment of such a manufacturing research centre, working closely with existing key high-tech photonic UK companies as well as emerging companies and new start-ups, will make a substantive difference to their ability to develop and gain larger penetration in their respective markets. The IMRC strategy will follow multiple strands taking a number of initiatives to continuously expand and strengthen the initial research portfolio by moving it further up in the innovation and value-added spectrum. During its lifetime, the IMRC will make concerted efforts to further increase the user number and level of engagement.

Photonics is one of six EU "Key Enabling Technologies. The US recently announced a $200M programme for Integrated Photonics Manufacturing to improve its competiveness. As a UK response, the research proposed here will advance the pervasive technologies for future manufacturing identified in the UK Foresight report on the Future of Manufacturing, improving the manufacturability of optical sensors, functional materials, and energy-efficient growth in the transmission, manipulation and storage of data. Integration is the key to low-cost components and systems. The Hub will address the grand challenge of optimising multiple cross-disciplinary photonic platform technologies to enable integration through developing low-cost fabrication processes. This dominant theme unites the requirements of the UK photonics (and photonics enabled) industry, as confirmed by our consultation with over 40 companies, Catapults, and existing CIMs. Uniquely, following strong UK investment in photonics, we include most of the core photonic platforms available today in our Hub proposal that exploits clean room facilities valued at £200M. Research will focus on both emerging technologies having greatest potential impact on industry, and long-standing challenges in existing photonics technology where current manufacturing processes have hindered industrial uptake. Platforms will include: Metamaterials: One of the challenges in metamaterials is to develop processes for low-cost and high-throughput manufacturing. Advanced metamaterials produced in laboratories depend on slow, expensive production processes such as electron beam writing and are difficult to produce in large sizes or quantities. To secure industrial take up across a wide variety of practical applications, manufacturing methods that allow nanostructure patterning across large areas are required. Southampton hosts a leading metamaterials group led by Prof Zheludev and is well positioned to leverage current/future EPSRC research investments, as well as its leading intellectual property position in metamaterials. High-performance special optical fibres: Although fibres in the UV and mid-IR spectral range have been made, few are currently commercial owing to issues with reliability, performance, integration and manufacturability. This platform will address the manufacturing scalability of special fibres for UV, mid-IR and for ultrahigh power sources, as requested by current industrial partners. Integration with III-V sources and packaging issues will also be addressed, as requested by companies exploiting special fibres in laser-based applications. In the more conventional near-infrared wavelength regime, we will focus on designs and processes to make lasers and systems cheaper, more efficient and more reliable. Integrated Silicon Photonics: has made major advances in the functionality that has been demonstrated at the chip level. Arguably, it is the only platform that potentially offers full integration of all the key components required for optical circuit functionality at low cost, which is no doubt why the manufacturing giant, Intel, has invested so much. The key challenge remains to integrate silicon with optical fibre devices, III-V light sources and the key components of wafer-level manufacture such as on line test and measurement. The Hub includes the leading UK group in silicon photonics led by Prof Graham Reed. III-V devices: Significant advances have been made in extending the range of III-V light sources to the mid-IR wavelength region, but key to maximise their impact is to enable their integration with optical fibres and other photonics platforms, by simultaneous optimisation of the III-V and surrounding technologies. A preliminary mapping of industrial needs has shown that integration with metamaterial components optimised for mid-IR would be highly desirable. Sheffield hosts the EPSRC III-V Centre and adds a powerful light emitting dimension to the Hub.