Tim Birks

Biography

Biographical Information Tim Birks arrived at the University of Bath in 1996 and is now a Professor in the Physics Department. His studies of tapered optical fibres have been a good platform for understanding the formation and optical properties of fibre transitions, and the design and operation of waveguides with large contrasts in refractive index. Since 1994 he has been a pioneer of one such waveguide, the photonic crystal fibre, developing the original fabrication techniques. His work at that time was recognised by the award of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. His research is based in the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials and his interests include the post-processing of PCFs and understanding their guidance mechanisms, as well as continuing to find new applications for tapered conventional fibres. One such application is astrophotonics, the use of photonics technologies in astronomical instrumentation. He also teaches undergraduates within the Department of Physics. He was elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2007.

Research Interest

Research Interests I am interested in light propagation in tapered fibres and photonic crystal fibres, particularly the post-processing of PCFs, the tapering of conventional fibres, and the conceptual understanding of guidance mechanisms in index-guiding and bandgap-guiding PCFs. Further details can be found in the web pages.