Phillips graduated with a BSc degree in physics from Imperial College, London. He was a senior researcher at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE), Aldermaston, from 1959 to 1962. He was a research scientist at the Sperry Rand Research Centre, Sudbury, Massachusetts, United States, from 1962 to 1963. He was a theoretical physicist at English Electric, Whetstone, Leicester, UK, from 1963 to 1965.

From 1965 to 1993 he was appointed at Loughborough University, where he rose to Professor of Applied Optics. In October 1993, he was appointed as Professor of Imaging Science at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Phillips was the co-founder in the early 1970s of Holoco, who using lasers supplied by The Who (that had been used in laser light shows during their concerts), constructed the Light Fantastic exhibitions as The Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1977–8.

The company became Advanced Holographics in 1980 when The Who withdrew their financial backing, and was based in Loughborough, UK,^[2] and later became part of Markem Systems.^[3]

Phillips is credited with the development of bleaching and processing techniques, which made it possible to record multi-color reflection holograms from a single wavelength laser.^[4] His research interests include holographic displays, edge-lit holograms, optical encoding for security, photopolymers, and novel micro-optic systems, and he has numerous patents in these areas.^[5]

Phillips developed a technique for producing white light holograms that work in dim lighting conditions, which are now widely used in the world of holographic art.^[6]

Phillips was awarded the Institute of Physics Thomas Young Medal (1981) in recognition for contributions to holography, particularly the development of high quality holograms for visual display. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

• N. J. Phillips and D. Porter, "An advance in the processing of holograms," Journal of Physics E: Scientific Instruments (1976) p. 631
• N. J. Phillips, A. A. Ward, R. Cullen, and D. Porter, "Advances in holographic bleaches," Photographic Science and Engineering, 24 (1980) p. 120.
• N. J. Phillips, H. Heyworth, and T. Hare, "On Lippmann's photography," Journal of Photographic Science, 32 (1984) pp. 158–169.
• N. J. Phillips and R. A. J. van der Werf, "The creation of efficient reflective Lippmann layers in ultra-fine grain silver halide materials using non-laser sources," Journal of Photographic Science, 33 (1985) pp. 22–28,
• N. J. Phillips, "Benign bleaching for healthy holography," Holosphere, 14(4) (1986) p. 21.
• N. J. Phillips, "The silver halides—the workhorse of the holography business," Proceedings of the International Symposium of Display Holography, 3 (1988) p. 35.
• D. Abbott, B. R. Davis, N. J. Phillips, and K. Eshraghian, "Simple derivation of the thermal noise formula using window-limited Fourier transforms," IEEE Trans. Education, 39(1) (1996) pp. 1–13.

• Dieter Jung, "Holographic space: A historical view and some personal experiences", Leonardo, Vol. 22, No. 3/4, Holography as an Art Medium: Special Double Issue. (1989), pp. 331–336.
• Ed Wesly, "A toast to Nick Phillips", Leonardo, Vol. 25, No. 5, Archives of Holography: A Partial View of a Three-Dimensional World: Special Issue. (1992), pp. 439–442.

• A photographic collection of Phillips's holograms
• Link to Phillips's company, Advanced Holographics
• Times obituary