Developing high performance optical amplifiers for the future of space communications

About the Project

Supervisory Team: Dr Kyle Bottrill and Prof Periklis Petropoulos

The space communication environment is like no other, subjecting data-carrying lasers to immense transmission distances, substantial Doppler shifts and, in some cases, a highly turbulent atmosphere. To help overcome these challenges, in this project you will develop advanced optical amplifiers for the exciting era of satellite lasercom on the horizon.

Fibre-optic communication is a well-known and well-established technology that has come to dominate high-capacity terrestrial communications. Without it, the internet would simply not exist as it does today. It is therefore surprising that optical technologies have not seen the same uptake for satellite communication as they have done for wired communication, with microwave transmission instead continuing to be the mainstay form of satellite communication. At least part of the explanation lies in the highly challenging environment that space presents: optical signals must bridge exceptionally large distances between satellites and ground stations with highly dynamic relative velocities and, if the link contains a leg through the atmosphere, these optical signals must also overcome turbulence induced scintillation. All this means that signals may be subject to levels of attenuation simply not found in fibre-optic networks. The solution? Build higher power transmitters and higher sensitivity receivers. The key technology? Optical amplification.

In this project, you'll investigate advanced amplifier designs tailored specifically for the challenging environment of satellite optical communications or lasercom, as it is known. You'll have access to our cutting-edge optical communication facility, X-band Labs, and, in combination with our developing free-space optical communications testbed, you'll perform high-impact demonstrations of the novel amplification solutions that you'll develop for the growing lasercom industry. This project provides an exciting opportunity to be part of this historic transition towards optical satellite communications.

Throughout this project you'll gain experience handling and splicing optical fibre, building fibre-optic and free-space optical communication systems using lasers, modulators, photodetectors, high-speed (>70GHz) arbitrary waveform generators and oscilloscopes and, of course, developing novel optical amplifiers.

Entry requirements

You must have a UK 2:1 honours degree or its international equivalent.

Fees and funding

Full scholarships include tuition fees, a stipend at the UKRI rate plus 10% ORC enhancement tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years (totalling £22,858 for 2025/26, rising annually) and a budget of £4200 for things like conference travel.

UK, EU and Horizon Europe students are eligible for scholarships. CSC students are eligible for fee waivers. Funding for other international applicants is very limited and highly competitive. Overseas students who have secured or are seeking external funding are welcome to apply.

For more information, please visit our postgraduate research funding pages.

How to apply

Apply now

You need to:

• choose programme type (Research), 2026/27, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
• select Full time or Part time
• search for programme PhD ORC (7097)
• add name of the supervisor in section 2 of the application

Applications should include:

• your CV (resumé)
• 2 academic references
• degree transcripts and certificates to date
• English language qualification (if applicable)