About the project
Harnessing structural disorder to control light offers a new route to highly efficient solar thermal energy harvesting. This project will develop and model hyperuniform disordered metasurfaces, a new class of nanostructured materials that achieve near perfect absorption and minimal thermal losses for next generation solar thermal energy systems.
This project will investigate how structural correlations in disordered photonic materials can be engineered to control the absorption, scattering and emission of light for high efficiency solar thermal energy conversion. By uniting advanced electromagnetic theory, large scale computation and experimental collaboration, it will establish the principles and design rules of hyperuniform disordered metasurfaces, a new class of materials that use correlated disorder for precise and broadband light management.
The research will develop a comprehensive theoretical and computational framework for metal dielectric metal metasurfaces that achieve selective solar absorption. Large scale simulations based on the finite element and finite difference time domain methods will be used to analyse how degrees of hyperuniformity influence broadband absorption, angular response and thermal emission. The outcomes will provide new physical insight into the link between geometric correlations and optical performance.
The research programme will focus on:
- the theoretical formulation and numerical modelling of solar selective metasurfaces based on hyperuniform geometries
- the design and optimisation of correlated disorder using physics-informed and machine-learning methodologies
- parametric and multiphysics simulations to identify pathways toward near-unity absorption and suppressed thermal emission
- collaboration with experimental partners at the University of Bristol and Northumbria University on the fabrication and optical characterisation of prototype metasurfaces
The Optoelectronics Research Centre at Southampton provides access to state-of-the-art computational facilities and over 90 specialist laboratories. The project offers training in computational electromagnetics, photonic materials design and data driven optimisation within a collaborative environment that bridges theory, simulation and experiment.
The School of Optoelectronics (ORC) is committed to promoting equality, diversity inclusivity as demonstrated by our Athena SWAN award. We welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age, and will give full consideration to applicants seeking flexible working patterns and those who have taken a career break. The University has a generous maternity policy, onsite childcare facilities, and offers a range of benefits to help ensure employees’ well-being and work-life balance. The University of Southampton is committed to sustainability and has been awarded the Platinum EcoAward.
