Staff profile

Responsibilities within department

Chair of the Laboratories Committee; Member of the Scholarship and Prizes committee; Member of the Facilities Committee; Member of the Education Committee; Member of the Staff-Student Consultative Committee.

Teaching activity

Chair of the Laboratories Committee; Level 1 Discovery Skills Errors Lectures; Level 2 Laboratory Skills co-ordinator;
Level 4 course Atoms, photons and qubits (APQ); Level 4 MPhys projects; Graduate Course on Data Analysis.

Research interests

I am an experimental physicist with two main thrusts to my work – the physics of ultracold atoms, and atom-light interactions with thermal ensembles.

• Quantum Light and Matter

• Personal home page

• 2017: Atom-Based Quantum Photonics(£1276337.00 from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
• 2014: Scientific Properties of Complex Knots(£337854.00 from Leverhulme Trust)
• 2014: Scientific Properties of Complex Knots(£337854.00 from Leverhulme Trust)
• 2014: Scientific Properties of Complex Knots(£337854.00 from Leverhulme Trust)

Authored book

• Adams, C S & Hughes, I G (2018). Optics f2f From Fourier to Fresnel. OUP.
• Hughes, Ifan & Hase, Tom (2010). Measurements and their Uncertainties A practical guide to modern error analysis. OUP.

Journal Article

• Pizzey, D, Briscoe, J D, Logue, F D, Ponciano-Ojeda, F S, Wrathmall, S A & Hughes, I G (2022). Laser spectroscopy of hot atomic vapours: from ’scope to theoretical fit. New Journal of Physics 24: 125001.
• Erdélyi, Robertus, Korsós, Marianna B., Huang, Xin, Yang, Yong, Pizzey, Danielle, Wrathmall, Steven A., Hughes, Ifan G., Dyer, Martin J., Dhillon, Vikram S., Belucz, Bernadett, Brajša, Roman, Chatterjee, Piyali, Cheng, Xuewu, Deng, Yuanyong, Domínguez, Santiago Vargas, Joya, Raúl, Gömöry, Peter, Gyenge, Norbert G., Hanslmeier, Arnold, Kucera, Ales, Kuridze, David, Li, Faquan, Liu, Zhong, Xu, Long, Mathioudakis, Mihalis, Matthews, Sarah, McAteer, James R.T., Pevtsov, Alexei A., Pötzi, Werner, Romano, Paolo, Shen, Jinhua, Temesváry, János, Tlatov, Andrey G., Triana, Charles, Utz, Dominik, Veronig, Astrid M., Wang, Yuming, Yan, Yihua, Zaqarashvili, Teimuraz & Zuccarello, Francesca (2022). The Solar Activity Monitor Network – SAMNet. Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate 12: 2.
• Maxwell, James L, Hughes, Ifan G & Adams, Charles S (2022). White-light versus discrete wavelength measurements of Faraday dispersion and the Verdet constant. European Journal of Physics 43(1): 015302.
• Hull, Benjamin, Long, Alexander & Hughes, Ifan G (2022). Using residual heat maps to visualise Benford’s multi-digit law. European Journal of Physics 43(1): 015803.
• Higgins, Clare R. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2021). Electromagnetically induced transparency in a V-system with 87Rb vapor in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 54(16): 165403.
• Mathew, Renju S., O’Donnell, Roshan, Pizzey, Danielle & Hughes, Ifan G. (2021). The Raspberry Pi auto-aligner: Machine learning for automated alignment of laser beams. Review of Scientific Instruments 92(1): 015117.
• Ponciano-Ojeda, Francisco S., Logue, Fraser D. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2021). Absorption spectroscopy and Stokes polarimetry in a 87Rb vapour in the Voigt geometry with a 1.5 T external magnetic field. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 54(1): 015401.
• Cutler, T. F., Hamlyn, W. J., Renger, J., Whittaker, K. A., Pizzey, D., Hughes, I. G., Sandoghdar, V. & Adams, C. S. (2020). Nanostructured alkali-metal vapor cells. Physical Review Applied 14(3): 034054.
• Higgins, Clare R, Pizzey, Danielle, Mathew, Renju S & Hughes, Ifan G (2020). Atomic line vs. lens cavity filters: A comparison of their merits. OSA Continuum 3(4): 961-970.
• Anderson, Jason, Gillen, Catherine, Wright, Jacqueline, Adams, Charles S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2020). Optical rotation of white light. American Journal of Physics 88(3): 247.
• Carr, Daniel Luke, Spong, Nicholas L. R., Hughes, Ifan Glyndwr & Adams, Charles S (2020). Measuring the Faraday effect in olive oil using permanent magnets and Malus' law. European Journal of Physics 41(2): 025301.
• Beswick, Benjamin T., Hughes, Ifan G. & Gardiner, Simon A. (2019). Lattice-depth measurement using continuous grating atom diffraction. Physical Review A 100(6): 063629.
• Peyrot, T., Šibalić, N., Sortais, Y. R. P., Browaeys, A., Sargsyan, A., Sarkisyan, D., Hughes, I. G. & Adams, C. S. (2019). Measurement of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction by transmission spectroscopy in a wedged nanocell. Physical Review A 100(2): 022503.
• Peyrot, T., Sortais, Y. R. P., Greffet, J.-J., Browaeys, A., Sargsyan, A., Keaveney, J., Hughes, I. G. & Adams, C. S. (2019). Optical Transmission of an Atomic Vapor in the Mesoscopic Regime. Physical Review Letters 122(11): 113401.
• Keaveney, James, Ponciano-Ojeda, Francisco S., Rieche, Stefan M., Raine, Mark J., Hampshire, Damian P. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2019). Quantitative optical spectroscopy of $^{87}$Rb vapour in the Voigt geometry in DC magnetic fields up to 0.4T. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 52(5): 055003.
• Maucher, F., Skupin, S., Gardiner, S. A. & Hughes, I. G. (2019). An intuitive approach to structuring the three electric field components of light. New Journal of Physics 21: 013032.
• Beswick, Benjamin T., Hughes, Ifan G. & Gardiner, Simon A. (2019). Lattice-depth measurement using multipulse atom diffraction in and beyond the weakly diffracting limit. Physical Review A 99(1): 013614.
• Keaveney, James, Wrathmall, Steven A., Adams, Charles S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2018). Optimized ultra-narrow atomic bandpass filters via magneto-optic rotation in an unconstrained geometry. Optics Letters 43(17): 4272-4275.
• Mathew, Renju S, Ponciano-Ojeda, Francisco Keaveney, James Whiting, Daniel & Hughes, Ifan (2018). Simultaneous two-photon resonant optical laser locking (STROLLing) in the hyperfine Paschen-Back regime. Optics Letters 43(17): 4204-4207.
• Peyrot, Tom, Keaveney, James, Sortais, Yvan R. P., Sargsyan, Armen, Sarkisyan, David, Hughes, Ifan G., Browaeys, Antoine & Adams, Charles S. (2018). Collective Lamb shift of a nanoscale atomic vapor layer within a sapphire cavity. Physical Review Letters 120(24): 243401.
• Maucher, F., Skupin, S., Gardiner, S. A. & Hughes, I. G. (2018). Creating Complex Optical Longitudinal Polarization Structures. Physical Review Letters 120(16): 163903.
• Keaveney, James, Adams, Charles S & Hughes, Ifan G (2018). ElecSus: Extension to arbitrary geometry magneto-optics. Computer Physics Communications 224: 311-324.
• Whiting, Daniel J., Mathew, Renju S., Keaveney, James, Adams, Charles S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2018). Four-wave mixing in a non-degenerate four-level diamond configuration in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime. Journal of Modern Optics 62(2): 119-128.
• Hughes, Ifan G. (2018). Velocity selection in a Doppler-broadened ensemble of atoms interacting with a monochromatic laser beam. Journal of Modern Optics 65(5-6): 640-647.
• Whiting, Daniel J., Šibalić, Nikola, Keaveney, James, Adams, Charles S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2017). Single-photon interference due to motion in an atomic collective excitation. Physical Review Letters 118(25): 253601.
• Nixon, M. & Hughes, I. G. (2017). A visual understanding of optical rotation using corn syrup. European Journal of Physics 38(4): 045302.
• Sargsyan, Armen, Papoyan, Aram, Hughes, Ifan G., Adams, Charles S. & Sarkisyan, David (2017). Selective reflection from an Rb layer with a thickness below λ/12 and applications. Optics Letters 42(8): 1476-1479.
• Beswick, B.T., Hughes, I.G., Gardiner, S.A., Astier, H.P.A.G., Andersen, M.F. & Daszuta, B. (2016). epsilon-pseudoclassical model for quantum resonances in a cold dilute atomic gas periodically driven by finite-duration standing-wave laser pulses. Physical Review A 94(6): 063604.
• Keaveney, James, Hamlyn, William J., Adams, Charles S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2016). A single-mode external cavity diode laser using an intra-cavity atomic Faraday filter with short-term linewidth <400 kHz and long-term stability of <1 MHz. Review of Scientific Instruments 87(9): 095111.
• Maucher, F., Gardiner, S.A. & Hughes, I.G. (2016). Excitation of knotted vortex lines in matter waves. New Journal of Physics 18(6): 063016.
• Whiting, D. J., Keaveney, J., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2016). Direct measurement of excited-state dipole matrix elements using electromagnetically induced transparency in the hyperfine Paschen-Back regime. Physical Review A 93(4): 043854.
• Whiting, D. J., Bimbard, E., Keaveney, J., Zentile, M. A., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2015). Electromagnetically induced absorption in a nondegenerate three-level ladder system. Optics Letters 40(18): 4289-4292.
• Hanley, Ryan K., Gregory, Philip D., Hughes, Ifan G. & Cornish, Simon L. (2015). Absolute absorption on the potassium D lines: theory and experiment. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 48(19): 195004.
• Zentile, M. A., Whiting, D. J., Keaveney, J., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2015). Atomic Faraday filter with equivalent noise bandwidth less than 1  GHz. Optics Letters 40(9): 2000-2003.
• Whittaker, K. A., Keveaney, J., Hughes, I. G. & Adams, C. S. (2015). Hilbert transform: applications to atomic spectra. Physical Review A 91(3): 032513.
• Zentile, M. A., Keaveney, J., Weller, L., Whiting, D. J., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2015). ElecSus: A program to calculate the electric susceptibility of an atomic ensemble. Computer Physics Communications 189: 162-174.
• Whittaker, K. A., Keaveney, J., Hughes, I. G., Sargsyan, A., Sarkisyan, D. & Adams, C. S. (2015). Spectroscopic detection of atom-surface interactions in an atomic-vapor layer with nanoscale thickness. Physical Review A 92(5): 052706.
• Zentile, Mark A., Mathew, Renju S., Whiting, Daniel J., Keaveney, James, Adams, Charles S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2015). Optimization of atomic Faraday filters in the presence of homogeneous line broadening. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 48(18): 185001.
• Whittaker, K. A., Keaveney, J., Hughes, I. G., Sargsyan, A., Sarkisyan, D. & Adams, C. S. (2014). Optical Response of Gas-Phase Atoms at Less than λ/80 from a Dielectric Surface. Physical Review Letters 112: 253201.
• Zentile, Mark A., Andrews, Rebecca, Weller, Lee, Knappe, Svenja, Adams, Charles S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2014). The hyperfine Paschen-Back Faraday effect. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 47(7): 075005.
• Siddons, P., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2012). Optical preparation and measurement of atomic coherence at gigahertz bandwidth. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 45(12): 124009.
• Keaveney, J., Sargsyan, A., Krohn, U., Hughes, I. G., Sarkisyan, D. & Adams, C. S. (2012). Cooperative Lamb Shift in an Atomic Vapor Layer of Nanometer Thickness. Physical Review Letters 108(17): 173601.
• Weller, L, Kleinbach, K, Zentile, MA, Knappe, S, Adams, CS & Hughes, IG (2012). Absolute absorption and dispersion of a rubidium vapour in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 45(21): 215005.
• West, AD, Weatherill, KJ, Hayward, TJ, Fry, PW, Schrefl, T, Gibbs, MRJ Adams, CS, Allwood, DA & Hughes, IG (2012). Realization of the Manipulation of Ultracold Atoms with a Reconfigurable Nanomagnetic System of Domain Walls. Nano Letters 12(8): 4065–4069.
• Weller, L, Kleinbach, K, Zentile, MA, Knappe, S, Hughes, IG & Adams, CS (2012). Optical isolator using an atomic vapor in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime. Optics Letters 37(16): 3405-3407.
• West, A.D. Hayward, T.J. Weatherill, K.J. Schrefl, T. Allwood, D.A. & Hughes, I.G. (2012). A simple model for calculating magnetic nanowire domain wall fringing fields. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 45(9): 095002.
• Hughes, I G & Hase, T P A (2012). Error propagation a functional approach. Journal of Chemical Education 89(6): 821-822.
• West, A. D., Wade, C. G., Weatherill, K. J. & Hughes, I. G. (2012). Piezoelectrically actuated time-averaged atomic microtraps. Applied Physics Letters 101(2): 023115.
• Keaveney, J, Hughes, IG, Sargsyan, A Sarkisyan, D & Adams, CS (2012). Maximal Refraction and Superluminal Propagation in a Gaseous Nanolayer. Physical Review Letters 109(23): 233001.
• Weller, L, Dalton, T, Siddons, P, Adams, C S & Hughes, I G (2012). Measuring the Stokes parameters for light transmitted by a high-density rubidium vapour in large magnetic fields. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 45(5): 055001.
• Hayward, T. J. West, A. D., Weatherill, K. J., Schrefl, T., Hughes, I. G. & Allwood, D. A. (2011). Nanomagnetic engineering of the properties of domain wall atom traps. Journal of Applied Physics 110(12): 123918.
• Weller, L., Bettles, R. J., Siddons, P., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2011). Absolute absorption on the rubidium D1 line including resonant dipole–dipole interactions. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 44(19): 195006.
• Kemp, Stefan L., Hughes, Ifan G. & Cornish, Simon L. (2011). An analytical model of off-resonant Faraday rotation in hot alkali metal vapours. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 44(23): 235004.
• Siddons, P., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2010). Optical control of Faraday rotation in hot Rb vapor. Physical Review A 81(4): 043838.
• T. J. Hayward, A. D. West, K. J. Weatherill, P. J. Curran, P. W. Fry, P. M. Fundi, M. R. J. Gibbs, T. Schrefl, C. S. Adams, I. G. Hughes, S. J. Bending & D. A. Allwood (2010). Design and characterization of a field-switchable nanomagnetic atom mirror. Journal of Applied Physics 108(4): 043906.
• Javaux, C., Hughes, I.G., Lochead, G., Millen, J. & Jones, M.P.A. (2010). Modulation-free pump-probe spectroscopy of strontium atoms. European Physical Journal D 57(2): 151-154.
• Siddons, P., Bell, N. C., Cai, Y., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2009). A gigahertz-bandwidth atomic probe based on the slow-light Faraday effect. Nature Photonics 3(4): 225-229.
• Sherlock, B. E. & Hughes, I. G. (2009). How weak is a weak probe in laser spectroscopy? American Journal of Physics 77(2): 111-115.
• Abel, R. P., Krohn, U., Siddons, P., Hughes, I. G. & Adams, C. S. (2009). Faraday dichroic beam splitter for Raman light using an isotopically pure alkali-metal-vapor cell. Optics Letters 34(20): 3071-3073.
• Siddons, P., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2009). Off-resonance absorption and dispersion in vapours of hot alkali-metal atoms. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 42(17): 175004.
• Siddons, P., Adams, C. S., Ge, Chang & Hughes, I. G. (2008). Absolute absorption on rubidium D lines: comparison between theory and experiment. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 41(15): 155004.
• Smith, D. A., Arnold, A. S., Pritchard, M. J. & Hughes, I. G. (2008). Experimental single-impulse magnetic focusing of launched cold atoms. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 41(12): 125302.
• Harris, M.L., Cornish, S.L., Tripathi, A. & Hughes, I.G. (2008). Optimization of sub-Doppler DAVLL on the rubidium D2 line. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 41(8): 085401.
• McCarron, Daniel J., Hughes, Ifan G., Tierney, Patrick & Cornish, Simon L. (2007). A heated vapor cell unit for dichroic atomic vapor laser lock in atomic rubidium. REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 78(9): 093106.
• Millett-Sikking, Alfred, Hughes, Ifan G., Tierney, Patrick & Cornish, Simon L. (2007). DAVLL lineshapes in atomic rubidium. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 40(1): 187-198.
• Pritchard, Matthew J., Arnold, Aidan S., Cornish, Simon L., Hallwood, David W., Pleasant, Chris V.S. & Hughes, Ifan G. (2006). Transport of launched cold atoms with a laser guide and pulsed magnetic fields. New Journal of Physics 8: 309.
• Harris, ML, Adams, CS, Cornish, SL, McLeod, IC, Tarleton, E & Hughes, IG (2006). Polarization spectroscopy in rubidium and cesium. PHYSICAL REVIEW A 73(6): 062509.
• Arnold, A.S., Pritchard, M. J., Smith, D. A. & Hughes, I. G. (2006). Double-impulse magnetic focusing of launched cold atoms. New Journal of Physics 8(4): 53.
• Purves, G. T., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2006). Sagnac interferometry in a slow-light medium. Physical Review A 74(2): 023805.
• Allwood, D. A., Schrefl, T., Hrkac, G., Hughes, I. G. & Adams, C. S. (2006). Mobile atom traps using magnetic nanowires. Applied Physics Letters 89(1): 014102.
• Pritchard, M. J., Arnold, A. S., Smith, D. A. & Hughes, I. G. (2004). Single-impulse magnetic focusing of launched cold atoms. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics 37(22): 4435-4450.
• Purves, G. T., Jundt, G., Adams, C. S. and Hughes, I. G. (2004). Refractive index measurements by probe-beam deflection. European Physical Journal D 29: 433-436.
• Smith DA & Hughes IG (2004). The Role Of Hyperfine Pumping In Multilevel Systems Exhibiting Saturated Absorption. American Journal Of Physics 72: 631-637.
• Jundt, G., Purves, G. T., Adams, C. S. & Hughes, I. G. (2003). Non-linear Sagnac interferometry for pump-probe dispersion spectroscopy. European Physical Journal D 27(3): 273-276.
• Pearman, C. P., Adams, C. S., Cox, S. G., Griffin, P. F. Smith, D. A. & Hughes, I. G. (2002). Polarization spectroscopy of a closed atomic transition: applications to laser frequency locking. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 35(24): 5141-5151.
• Badger, S. D., Hughes, I. G. & Adams, C. S. (2001). Hyperfine effects in electromagnetically induced transparency. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 34(22): L749-L756.
• Hughes, I. G., Darlington, T. & Hinds, E. A. (2001). Periodic trajectories of cold atoms in a gravitational cavity. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics 34(14): 2869-2880.
• Rosenbusch, P., Hall, B. V., Hughes, I. G., Saba, C. V., & and Hinds, E. A. (2000). Manipulation of cold atoms using a corrugated magnetic reflector. Physical Review A 61: 031404-.
• Rosenbusch, P., Hall, B. V., Hughes, I. G., Saba, C. V., & and Hinds, E. A. (2000). Manipulation of cold atoms by an adaptable magnetic reflector. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics 70: 709-720.
• Key, M., Hughes, I. G., Rooijakkers, W., Sauer, B. E., & Hinds, E. A., Richardson, D. J. and Kazansky, P. G. (2000). Propagation of Cold Atoms along a Miniature Magnetic Guide. Physical Review Letters 84: 1371-1373.
• Hinds, E.A. & Hughes, I.G. (1999). REVIEW ARTICLE: Magnetic atom optics: mirrors, guides, traps, and chips for atoms. Journal of Physics D Applied Physics 32: 119-.
• Saba, C. V., Barton, P. A., Boshier, M. G., Hughes, I. G., Rosenbusch, P., Sauer, B. E. & Hinds, E. A. (1999). Reconstruction of a Cold Atom Cloud by Magnetic Focusing. Physical Review Letters 82: 468-471.
• Lloyd, G. M., Hughes, I. G., Bratfalean, R. and Ewart, P. (1998). Broadband degenerate four-wave mixing of OH for flame thermometry. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics 67: 107-113.
• Hinds, E. A., Boshier, M. G. and Hughes, I. G. (1998). Magnetic Waveguide for Trapping Cold Atom Gases in Two Dimensions. Physical Review Letters 80: 645-649.
• Hinds, E. A., Barton, P. A., Boshier, M. G., Hughes, I. & G., Saba, C. V. and Sauer, B. E. (1998). A Magnetic Waveguide for Trapping Cold Atom Gases in 2D. APS Meeting Abstracts 205-.
• Kaminski, C. F., Hughes, I. G. and Ewart, P. (1997). Degenerate four-wave mixing spectroscopy and spectral simulation of C₂ in an atmospheric pressure oxy-acetylene flame. Journal of Chemical Physics 106: 5324-5332.
• Hughes, I. G., Barton, P. A., Roach, T. M., Boshier, M. & G. and Hinds, E. A. (1997). Atom optics with magnetic surfaces: I. Storage of cold atoms in a curved `floppy disk'. "Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics" 30: 647-658.
• Hinds, E. A., Barton, P. A., Boshier, M. G., Hughes, I. & G. and Saba, C. V. (1997). Dynamics of cold atoms above a curved magnetic mirror. APS Meeting Abstracts 1803-.
• Hughes, I. G., Barton, P. A., Roach, T. M. and Hinds, E. & A. (1997). Atom optics with magnetic surfaces: II. Microscopic analysis of the `floppy disk' mirror. "Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics" 30: 2119-2132.
• Hughes, I.G. & Meacher, D.R. (1994). Electronic Rydberg wavepacket effects on molecular vibration. "Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics" 27: 1377-1386.
• Meacher, D. R., Meyler, P. E., Hughes, I. G. and Ewart, & P. (1991). Observations of the collapse and fractional revival of a Rydberg wavepacket in atomic rubidium. "Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics" 24: L63-L69.