About the project
The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.
Membrane quantum well lasers contact-bonded onto the surface of sapphire or silicon carbide have been demonstrated to create perfect Gaussian beams. We have the capability to release these membranes and position them in the integrated photonics cleanroom on top of substrates and we have demonstrated external cavity lasing with them.
We will work to create optical vortex beams using these Lasers and incorporate in the cavities meta-surfaces to be able to control the beam output. Meta-surfaces, harnessing subwavelength 2D nanostructures, commonly referred to as meta-atoms, arranged in either a periodic or aperiodic fashion, have garnered growing interest for their extraordinary ability to control light in both classical and quantum light (see Nature Photonics 15, 327 (2021)).
You will focus on developing the quantum well membrane lasers in combination with meta-surfaces to manipulate the emission properties and chirality. Vortex beams have applications in imaging, quantum computing, optical tweezers and communications.
