Jonathan C. Knight, (born 1964, in Lusaka) is a British physicist. He is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) for the University of Bath where he has been Professor in the Department of Physics since 2000, and served as head of department. From 2005 to 2008, he was founding Director of the university's Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials.
Education Knight studied at the University of Cape Town where he obtained his B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. and PhD. His doctoral thesis was on whispering gallery mode microlasers. He did postdoctoral research at the École Normale Supérieure (Paris, 1994–1995) and at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (University of Southampton, 1995–1996).
Research Knight is interested in the behaviour of light in microstructured materials, and in the physics of optical fibres. Working with Russell and Tim Birks, he designed, fabricated and demonstrated the power of lattice cladding within sub-wavelength fibre architectures. Knight's principles readily form the basis of modern, sub-wavelength fibre optics. This work has led to a range of outcomes, including the commercialisation, of a new form of light source (supercontinuum), high power short pulse laser delivery through fibre, and applications in quantum and atomic physics.. More recently, this work has found application in hollow core fibre technology. Belardi and Knight proposed the hollow-core "nested-ring" design for photonic fibres, at the beginning of 2014. Together, at University of Bath, Knight and William Wadsworth co-created a new kind of laser capable of pulsed and continuous mid-infrared (IR) emission between 3.1 and 3.2 microns, a spectral range that has long presented a major challenge for laser developers.
Awards and recognition Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 2019."Distinguished scientists elected as Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society, 16 April 2019" Rank Prize in Optoelectronics Optoelectronics Prize, 2018"For the invention and realisation of photonic crystal fibres." Institute of Physics Optics and Photonics Division Prize, 2012 Fellow of Optical Society of America, 2011For pioneering development of the photonic crystal fiber and particularly its application in nonlinear frequency conversion and supercontinuum generation. Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, 2005–2006
Selected publications
References
External links
Physics at the University of Bath Prof Knight profile at University of Bath. Visit to Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics Why do we need new types of optical fibres?, in Physics World. Professor Jonathan Knight on the Special Topic of Photonic Crystals.