David Richardson (physicist)
British optoelectronics researcher (born 1964)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David John Richardson (born 1964) is a British optoelectronics researcher and fellow of both the Royal Society (FRS) and the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).[7] He is currently a Partner Researcher at Microsoft,[8] based in Romsey, UK, where he leads research on hollow core optical fiber technology—an approach that guides light through an air-filled core rather than conventional solid glass. Before joining Microsoft, he spent 34 years at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton.[9] While at the ORC, he served as Professor, Deputy Director, and Head of the Fibre and Laser Group, making significant contributions to advanced optical fibre and laser research.[2][6][10]
1964 (age 61–62)[1]
David Richardson | |
|---|---|
Richardson in 2018 | |
| Born | David John Richardson 1964 (age 61–62)[1] |
| Education | Taunton’s College |
| Alma mater | University of Sussex[2][3] |
| Awards | Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2013); John Tyndall Award[4] (2024); IEEE Photonics Award[5] (2025) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | Microsoft, University of Southampton |
| Thesis | The production of, and experiments with, monochromatic ultra cold neutrons (1989) |
| Website | www |
Education
Richardson was educated at St George’s Roman Catholic School, Southampton and Taunton’s College.[1] He completed his Bachelor of Science degree and PhD in Physics at the University of Sussex in 1989.[3]
Career and research
Richardson is a pioneer in the field of photonics, best known for his work on fibre optics and their applications.[11] 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.[11] He has developed optical fibres of high performance – capable, for example, of transmitting large quantities of data across the internet at high speed.[11]
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.[11] 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.[11] His work extends to fibres capable of delivering kilowatts of optical power for manufacturing with lasers.[11]
