PhD in Life-science Applications of Metasurface Emitting Lasers

Information about the project and the division
Chalmers University of Technology is launching the project Metasurface-Emitting Lasers, a 5-year project funded by the Wallenberg Foundation, and has a number of positions open for recruitment of PhD students and postdocs to the project. This position is a great opportunity for you as a PhD student to develop your scientific and technical skills as part of a multidisciplinary team of leading researchers and other PhD students and postdocs at the interface of science and applications of great importance for industry and society.

Rapid conceptual developments and progress in nanofabrication technologies, computational electromagnetics and optical measurement methodologies have brought optics and photonics firmly into the realm of nanoscience. The methods and concepts developed in nanophotonics have a very broad applicability and may provide solutions to challenges as diverse as single molecule medical diagnostics, quantum optics for tomorrow’s telecom networks and environmentally friendly fuels from solar energy harvesting.

The Bionanophotonics group at Chalmers is engaged in fundamental and applied nanophotonics studies at the international research frontier. The group is highly international and consists of MSc and PhD students, post docs and senior scientists. The group is embedded in the Department of Physics at Chalmers University of Technology, which is one of the largest physics departments in Sweden. Researchers in the Division of Bionanophotonics do experiments, theory and computer simulations and we are heavy users of Chalmers nanofabrication facility. We now seek highly motivated candidates for a new PhD project focused on metasurfaces and metasurface emitting lasers for biological applications.

Phase-gradient metasurfaces are built from subwavelength particles which properties are systematically varied over a surface. This allows one to control the phase of light that is transmitted through or reflected from the metasurface, which in turn makes it possible to construct extremely compact analoges of most common optical components, for example lenses, prisms, and polarizers. One particularly attractive option is to integrate metasurfaces with equally compact miniature laser sources (so-called VCSELs). This PhD project focuses on investigating and developing metasurfaces and metasurface emitting lasers (MEL's) for biological applications, such as novel illumination devices for cell biology and optical sensors for biomolecules or viruses. The project involves nanofabrication of metaoptics components, experiments targeting bioapplications, and computer simulations of metasurface properties. The PhD project is one of several within the recently funded Wallenberg project entitled "Metasurface-emitting Lasers: Tomorrows Light Sources for Applied Photonics".

Major responsibilities
We seek a PhD student to work in a team of senior researchers, postdocs and other PhD students with complementary skills and tasks. Your major responsibility as a PhD student is to pursue your own doctoral studies. This includes developing scientific concepts and communicating research results both verbally and in writing. In addition to the research project, you will also take courses on the advanced level within the graduate school of Physics. The position may also include teaching or other duties corresponding to at most 20% of working hours. You will be employed by Chalmers as full-time temporary employee limited to a maximum of five years duration.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Qualifications
By the starting date, you should have acquired a Master of Science degree, or the equivalent, in physics, applied physics, optics, nanoscience, or a related subject area. You should have excellent communication skills in written and spoken English. You should have a genuine interest in planning, executing and analyzing experiments and simulations, and to connect the results to theory and possible applications. You take responsibility for progress and quality of your work, and you are also a team player able to engage in collaborative work with other students and senior scientists in your research group and elsewhere.

Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Our offer to you
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the dynamic city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Application deadline: 15th April, 2021.
Review of applications will start on April 1st, 2021, and new applications are accepted until the position is filled.

APPLY HERE

For questions, please contact:
Professor Mikael Käll, Nano & Biophysics
E-mail: mikael.kall@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 3119