David N. Payne

Professor David Neil Payne, CBE FRS FREng (born 13 August 1944) is a professor of photonics. He has made several contributions in areas of optical fibre communications over the last forty years and his work has had an impact on telecommunications and laser technology. Payne’s work spans diverse areas of photonics, from telecommunications and optical sensors to nanophotonics and optical materials including the first optical fibre drawing tower in a university.

Payne’s work in fibre fabrication in the 1970s resulted in many of the special fibres used today. He led the team at Southampton that invented the erbium-doped fibre amplifier, a type of optical amplifier, The idea was adopted at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, USA and the two teams between them developed much of the EDFA technology we know today. The EDFA was a crucial component that fuelled an explosive growth in the internet through its ability to transmit and amplify vast amounts of data.

Payne also pioneered fibre lasers and led the teams that invented the single mode silica fibre laser and amplifier and broke the kilowatt barrier for the output of a fibre laser. Since then he has made discoveries which have contributed to the growth of fibre lasers for use in manufacturing and defence.

He has been awarded the top American, European and Japanese prizes in photonics, a rare achievement. He has received the UK Rank Prize for Optics, the prestigious US Tyndall Award (1991) and the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Engineering (1998). He is also an Eduard Rhein Laureate (Germany). In 2001 Payne was awarded the Mountbatten Medal of the IEE (2001) and the Kelvin Medal of the eight major engineering institutions for distinction in the application of science to engineering (2004). The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) awarded David the prestigious 2007 Photonics Award for outstanding achievements in photonics, the first awarded outside the USA. Most recently he was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences as one of only 240 foreign members.

A frequent Plenary and Invited speaker at major international optics conferences, Payne has published over 600 Conference and Journal papers. He is an original member of the Highly Cited Researchers (USA) where he is honoured as one of the most referenced, influential researchers in the field. Payne is inventor and co-inventor on over 20 patents and applications. Payne is a Fellow of the Royal Society (elected 1992) and of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He has entries in ‘Who’s Who’, ‘Who’s Who in Science and Engineering’ and in Baron’s – ‘The Europe 500 Leaders for the New Century’.

Payne is the current director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton, one of the world’s largest research groups dedicated to photonics. He also directs the Photonics Hyperhighway research project, aimed at making internet connections 100 times faster.

In addition to his Academic achievements, Payne is an entrepreneur. His activities have led to a photonics cluster of nine companies surrounding the ORC, creating jobs and wealth in the local community. He founded York Technologies (now PK Technology Inc.) and SPI Lasers PLC, a leading supplier of high power fibre lasers located at Hedge End, Southampton, which has recently been purchased by the Trumpf Corporation of Germany as part of its ever expanding industrial empire. Trumpf is the world's largest manufacturer of lasers, operating room fittings and industrial cutting tools.