Southampton photonics expert appointed as Editor-in-Chief of international lasers and optics journal

Dr Jacob Mackenzie from the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics has been appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the highly respected Applied Physics B journal.

Jacob is an Associate Professor in the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton, where he leads the Planar Waveguide and Slab Lasers (PWSL) research group working on novel laser gain-materials and architectures.

Applied Physics B is one of the leading international, peer-reviewed journals in the area of experimental and theoretical investigations of lasers and optics.

Jacob says: "Photonics has become as indispensable as electronics in today's information age. Research in lasers and optics, the bedrock of Applied Physics B for the past four decades, continues to underpin future developments in the field.

"Readers and authors of this journal can be assured of finding insightful articles detailing new physics; a key resource enabling next-generation scientific discoveries."

Jacob is a member of the EPSRC College, and senior member of the Optical Society of America and SPIE, the international professional society for optics and photonics technology.

His research is focused on efficient solid-state laser systems with an emphasis on novel materials and complementary configurations to fibre-lasers, targeting applications whose needs range from power scaling to integration and miniaturisation.

Jacob gained experience as an Electro-Optic Engineer with BAE Systems, Australia, before completing a PhD at the ORC in Southampton. From 2004, he then further developed his career as a Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) - Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Post-Doctoral Research Fellow.

A conference co-chair of Fiber Lasers and Glass Photonics: Materials through Applications and Laser Sources and Applications at SPIE Photonics Europe, Jacob has also served on the technical committees of several of the major international laser conferences, such as, SPIE Photonics West - Solid State Lasers: Technology and Devices (2009-current), CLEO-Europe - Solid State Lasers (2011-2017), and OSA - Advanced Solid State Lasers (2014-2018).

Jacob started his tenure as Editor-in-Chief in January, a co-editor since 2016, replacing Professor Dr Dieter Meschede from Germany's Universität Bonn who stepped down after eight years in the role.