Optical imaging is perhaps the single most important sensor modality in use today. Its use is widespread in consumer, medical, commercial and defence technologies. The most striking development of the last 20 years has been the emergence of digital imaging using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Because CMOS is scalable, camera technology has benefited from Moore's law reduction in transistor size so that it is now possible to buy cameras with more than 10 MegaPixels for £50. The same benefits are beginning to emerge in other imaging markets - most notably in infrared imaging where 64x64 pixel thermal cameras can be bought for under £1000. Far infrared (FIR), or terahertz, imaging is now emerging as a vital modality with application to biomedical and security imaging, but early imaging arrays are still only few pixel research ideas and prototypes that we are currently investigating. There has been no attempt to integrate the three different wavelength sensors coaxially on to the same chip. Sensor fusion is already widespread whereby image data from traditional visible and mid infrared (MIR) sensors is overlaid to provide a more revealing and data rich visualisation. Image fusion permits discrepancies to be identified and comparative processing to be performed. Our aim is to create a "superspectral" imaging chip. By superspectral we mean detection in widely different bands, as opposed to the discrimination of many wavelengths inside a band - e.g. red, green and blue in the visible band. We will use "More than Moore" microelectronic technology as a platform. By doing so, we will leverage widely available low-cost CMOS to build new and economically significant technologies that can be developed and exploited in the UK. There are considerable challenges to be overcome to make such technology possible. We will hybridise two semiconductor systems to integrate efficient photodiode sensors for visible and MIR detection. We will integrate bolometric sensing for FIR imaging. We will use design and packaging technologies for thermal isolation and to optimise the performance of each sensor type. We will use hybridised metamaterial and surface plasmon resonance technologies to optimise wavelength discrimination allowing vertical stacking of physically large (i.e. FIR) sensors with visible and MIR sensors. We ultimate want to demonstrate the world's first ever super-spectral camera.

Silicon Photonics, the technology of electronic-photonic circuits on silicon chips, is transforming communications technology, particularly data centre communications, and bringing photonics to mass markets, utilising technology in the wavelength range 1.2 micrometres - 1.6 micrometres. Our vision is to extend the technical capability of Silicon Photonics to Mid -Infrared (MIR) wavelengths (3-15 micrometres), to bring the benefits of low cost manufacturing, technology miniaturisation and integration to a plethora of new applications, transforming the daily lives of mass populations. To do this we propose to develop low-cost, high performance, silicon photonics chip-scale sensors operating in the MIR wavelength region. This will change the way that healthcare, and environmental monitoring are managed. The main appeal of the MIR is that it contains strong absorption fingerprints for multiple molecules and substances that enable sensitive and specific detection (e.g. CO2, CH4, H2S, alcohols, proteins, lipids, explosives etc.) and therefore MIR sensors can address challenges in healthcare (e.g. cancer, poisoning, infections), and environmental monitoring (trace gas analysis, climate induced changes, water pollution), as well as other applications such as industrial process control (emission of greenhouse gases), security (detection of explosives and drugs at airports and train stations), or food quality (oils, fruit storage), to name but a few. However, MIR devices are currently realised in bulk optics and integrated MIR photonics is in its infancy, and many MIR components and circuits have either not yet been developed or their performance is inferior to their visible/near-IR counterparts. Research leaders from the Universities of Southampton, Sheffield and York, the University Hospital Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre will utilise their world leading expertise in photonics, electronics, sensing and packaging to unleash the full potential of integrated MIR photonics. We will realise low cost, mass manufacturable devices and circuits for biomedical and environmental sensing, and subsequently improve performance by on-chip integration with sources, detectors, microfluidic channels, and readout circuits and build demonstrators to highlight the versatility of the technology in important application areas. We will initially focus on the following applications, which have been chosen by consulting end users of the technology (the NHS and our industrial partners): 1) Therapeutic drug monitoring (e.g. vancomycin, rifampicin and phenytoin); 2) Liquid biopsy (rapid cancer diagnostics from blood samples); 3) Ocean monitoring (CO2, CH4, N2O detection).

Semiconductor materials power much of the current economy, through their use in the ubiquitous computer and much else besides. The most common semiconductor is silicon, and this accounts for about 90% of the world market. There are some other types of semiconductor, however, that provide functions that silicon can't address but which are also very important. Examples of these include: gallium arsenide, which is used in satellite receivers and mobile phones for the communications parts; materials based on indium phosphide, which are used in lasers in CD and DVD players and for long distance communications along optical fibres; and materials based on gallium nitride, which are used to make the white light emitting diodes that are now being used for a range of energy efficient lighting and even in car headlights. All of these materials belong to a family known as III-V semiconductors, because they contain a mixture of elements from group 3 and group 5 of the periodic table. III-V semiconductors account for most of the remaining 10% of the electronics industry, and are worth approximately £25bn per year worldwide and growing at about 7%p.a. Unlike the silicon industry, the UK has a significant presence in the manufacture of electronic components based on these materials, as well as systems based upon them, and is in a good position to benefit from the rapid growth in the market. Another member of this III-V semiconductor family in indium antimonide, a compound of indium and antimony, which has the formula InSb. InSb has several interesting properties. Charge carriers can be made to go faster than in any other member of the family and take less voltage to do so. Consequently, this material has the potential to make components that will operate at very high frequencies whilst consuming very little power and so, for example, enable future mobile devices to download massive amounts of data, such as streaming high definition video, without draining the battery or clogging the network. Another application is to enable imaging for detection of illicit explosives or firearms, without use of any harmful radiation. These materials might even find their way into future computers to enable the doubling of computing power to continue every two years, as it has for the last forty years. Other properties of the material mean that we can make infrared sensors for thermal imaging or detection of harmful gases, or photovoltaic devices that would make much more efficient solar energy systems. A corollary of these properties is that heat can cause the materials to "leak" charge, even at room temperature, so currently the only commercial applications are in high performance thermal imaging systems, where the application can tolerate the cost of having to provide cooling to -200C to make them work. This need to cool was previously assumed to be fundamental, however Ashley and co-workers have shown that this is not necessarily the case, and that uncooled operation is possible in several applications. This research will put in place the core technology that would enable a range of devices to be made that will work without any cooling. This technology includes being able to make features on the devices that are more than one thousand times smaller than a human hair and still have the devices operating effectively. It includes the addition of "nano-antennas" to the devices to improve their sensitivity to infrared light by orders of magnitude. It also includes work to show that the devices could be integrated with silicon, to benefit from the system cost savings derived from the massive investment in the silicon industry. The successful outcome of this research would be that various industries in the UK are able to quantify the benefits that the technology offers and make decisions to develop it into products. These would include the sensor manufacturers; prospective new companies in the mobile communications field; and renewable energy community.

In a consortium led by Heriot-Watt with St Andrews, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Dundee, this proposal for an "EPSRC CDT in Industry-Inspired Photonic Imaging, Sensing and Analysis" responds to the priority area in Imaging, Sensing and Analysis. It recognises the foundational role of photonics in many imaging and sensing technologies, while also noting the exciting opportunities to enhance their performance using emerging computational techniques like machine learning. Photonics' role in sensing and imaging is hard to overstate. Smart and autonomous systems are driving growth in lasers for automotive lidar and smartphone gesture recognition; photonic structural-health monitoring protects our road, rail, air and energy infrastructure; and spectroscopy continues to find new applications from identifying forgeries to detecting chemical-warfare agents. UK photonics companies addressing the sensing and imaging market are vital to our economy (see CfS) but their success is threatened by a lack of doctoral-level researchers with a breadth of knowledge and understanding of photonic imaging, sensing and analysis, coupled with high-level business, management and communication skills. By ensuring a supply of these individuals, our CDT will consolidate the UK industrial knowledge base, driving the high-growth export-led sectors of the economy whose photonics-enabled products and services have far-reaching impacts on society, from consumer technology and mobile computing devices to healthcare and security. Building on the success of our CDT in Applied Photonics, the proposed CDT will be configured with most (40) students pursuing an EngD degree, characterised by a research project originated by a company and hosted on their site. Recognizing that companies' interests span all technology readiness levels, we are introducing a PhD stream where some (15) students will pursue industrially relevant research in university labs, with more flexibility and technical risk than would be possible in an EngD project. Overwhelming industry commitment for over 100 projects represents a nearly 100% industrial oversubscription, with £4.38M cash and £5.56M in-kind support offered by major stakeholders including Fraunhofer UK, NPL, Renishaw, Thales, Gooch and Housego and Leonardo, as well as a number of SMEs. Our request to EPSRC for £4.86M will support 35 students, from a total of 40 EngD and 15 PhD researchers. The remaining students will be funded by industrial (£2.3M) and university (£0.93M) contributions, giving an exceptional 2:3 cash gearing of EPSRC funding, with more students trained and at a lower cost / head to the taxpayer than in our current CDT. For our centre to be reactive to industry's needs a diverse pool of supervisors is required. Across the consortium we have identified 72 core supervisors and a further 58 available for project supervision, whose 1679 papers since 2013 include 154 in Science / Nature / PRL, and whose active RCUK PI funding is £97M. All academics are experienced supervisors, with many current or former CDT supervisors. An 8-month frontloaded residential phase in St Andrews and Edinburgh will ensure the cohort gels strongly, and will equip students with the knowledge and skills they need before beginning their research projects. Business modules (x3) will bring each cohort back to Heriot-Watt for 1-week periods, and weekend skills workshops will be used to regularly reunite the cohort, further consolidating the peer-to-peer network. Core taught courses augmented with specialist options will total 120 credits, and will be supplemented by professional skills and responsible innovation training delivered by our industry partners and external providers. Governance will follow our current model, with a mixed academic-industry Management Committee and an independent International Advisory Board of world-leading experts.

Quantum physics describes how nature links the properties of isolated microscopic objects through interactions mediated by so-called quantum entanglement and that apply not just to atoms but also to particles of light, "photons". These discoveries led to the first "quantum revolution", delivering a range of transformative technologies such as the transistor and the laser that we now take for granted. We are now on the cusp of a second "quantum revolution", which will, over the next 5-10 years, yield a new generation of electronic and photonic devices that exploit quantum science. The challenge is to secure a leadership position in the race to the industrialisation of quantum physics to claim a large share of this emerging global market, which is expected to be worth £1 billion to the UK economy. QuantIC, the UK's centre for quantum imaging, was formed over four years ago to apply quantum technologies to the development of new cameras with unique imaging capabilities. Tangible impacts are the creation of 3 new companies (Sequestim, QLM and Raycal), technology translation into products through licencing (Timepix chip - Kromek) and the ongoing development with industry of a further 12 product prototypes. Moving forward, QuantIC will continue to drive paradigm-changing imaging systems such as the ability to see directly inside the human body, the ability to see through fog and smoke, to make microscopes with higher resolution and lower noise than classical physics allows and quantum radars that cannot be jammed or confused by other radars around them. These developments will be enabled by new technologies, such as single-photon cameras, detectors based on new materials and single-photon sensitivity in the mid-infrared spectral regions. Combined with our new computational methods, QuantIC will enable UK industry to lead the global imaging revolution. QuantIC will dovetail into other significant investments in the Quantum technology transfer ecosystem which is emerging in the UK. The University of Glasgow has allocated one floor of the £118M research hub to supporting fundamental research in quantum science and £28M towards the creation of the Clyde Waterfront Innovation Campus, a new £80M development in collaboration with Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise focussing on the translation of nano and quantum science for enabling technologies such as photonics, optoelectronics and quantum. Heriot-Watt has invested over £2M in new quantum optics laboratories and is currently building a £20M Global Research Innovation and Discovery Centre opening in 2019 to drive the translation of emerging technologies. Bristol is creating a £43M Quantum Innovation centre which already has £21M of industrial investment. Strathclyde University is creating a second £150M Technology Innovation Centre around 6 priority areas, one of which is Quantum Technology. All of these form part of the wider UK Quantum Technology Programme which is set to transform the UK's world leading science into commercial reality in line with the UK's drive towards a high productivity and high-skill economy. QuantIC will lead the quantum imaging research agenda and act as the bond between parallel activities and investments, thus ensuring paradigm-changing innovation that will transform tomorrow's society.