Professor Xia Yu visited the Applied Optics Group on Friday 17th April and Monday 20th April 2026.
Professor Xia Yu presented Photonics Research in the Beihang University, China, and delivered a talk on Beam shaping in laser optics applications in JLT, Jennison Building, 11 am, on Friday 17th April 2026.
Before and after the presentation, Prof Xia Yu visited the AOG’s labs and together with some members of the Applied Optics Group (AOG) explored the campus, and had the opportunity to walk into the bluebells woods. The walk continued with a stop in campus to see where a special engraved brick has been incorporated in the Footstep project, a path which runs through the University of Kent campus directly above the line of the former railway tunnel of the historic Crab & Winkle Rail Line. The brick marks the year 1996 – when researchers in the AOG were the first to demonstrate en-face optical coherence tomography (OCT) images from the retina, now known as C-scans.
The visit continued on Monday 20th April, when Prof. Xia Yu had the opportunity to meet and talk to more students and Postdocs from AOG. Prof. Xia Yu also met Dr. Silvia Ramos, Head of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics and Dr Chao Wang, Senior Lecturer in Electronic Systems in the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics, Recruitment Admissions and Outreach Lead, Head of Instrumentation Photonics and Control Research Group.
Photos from the visit are below the Abstract and Biography.
Abstract:
High brightness light source is a key component in quantum sensing, defect inspection and spectral-imaging systems. We focus on solving the critical challenges in developing new prototypes of light source, including single-frequency fiber lasers, DUV-UV-VIS-IR laser sustained plasma source, mid-IR lasers pumped with ultrafast fiber lasers, etc. This talk focuses on the beam shaping in these laser optics applications, such as sustaining plasma with annular beam, circular-polarization beam generation on fiber tip, gradient-antenna design on waveguide for evanescent field localization. Hopefully, it helps to facilitate the discussions between laser optics and photonics groups.
Biography:
Xia YU received her B. Eng and Ph.D degrees from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2003 and 2007, respectively. After graduation, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in NTU for two years. From 2008 to 2018, she worked in the precision measurements group in Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR). She was a senior scientist and team leader of optics in A*STAR, and an adjunct associate professor in National University of Singapore before she returned back to China in 2019. She is now a full professor in School of Instrumentation and Opto-electronic Engineering, Beihang University. She is the recipient of A*STAR Most Inspiring Mentor award 2015, A*STAR TALENT award 2017, IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2017, National Young Talent Award of China 2019, Photonics Innovation Technology Awards 2023, Asian Photonics Early Career Award 2026. She is the principle investigator of projects from National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program of China. She is the editorial board member of Chinese Laser Press, associate editor of Optics and Laser Technology, senior member of IEEE/Optica. Her group at Beihang University focuses on fiber lasers, laser sustained plasma and mid-IR spectroscopy.
