Photodetection and Imaging

The Photodetection and Imaging Group (Φ Group) has evolved from more diverse activities to focus specifically on the core competence and expertise of the group leader, Dr Alan P. Morrison. The primary research direction of this group is the development of avalanche photodiodes for low-light sensing applications. In particular the group has an established expertise in the design and fabrication of shallow-junction Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes for single-photon counting applications. Allied to this, the group has developed expertise in the custom design of application specific integrated circuits to provide automatic control and support functions for the operation of avalanche photodiodes in both sensing and imaging applications.

The Φ group is active in several national and international collaborations, covering applications from astronomy to fluorescence lifetime imaging. Detectors and arrays of detectors developed by the group have been used in applications as diverse as microfluidic cell cytometry, DNA analysis, plastic optical fibre communications and time-correlated single-photon counting. The ongoing research activities of the group will include extending the wavelength range of its detectors into the near-IR to extend the range of applications to technologies in medicine and quantum cryptography.

In addition to the development of solid state detectors for low-light sensing and imaging applications the Φ group has considerable experience in developing imaging systems for motion tracking and object recognition, technologies that find extensive application in both the security and manufacturing industries. The group will expand its research activities in these areas and is particularly interested in the application of imaging and image processing technologies to the study to biomechanics and the optimisation of performance in sports sciences.