About the project
Quantum computers using individual atoms could solve problems beyond today’s machines, but controlling thousands of atoms requires complex optical equipment. This project will create a chip-based optical metasurface that forms many tiny atom traps, making atom quantum computers more stable, easier to build and potentially more scalable.
Could a single chip help scale neutral-atom quantum computers from hundreds to thousands of atoms? Today’s optical-tweezer systems rely on bulky, lossy and alignment-sensitive free-space optics, creating a major barrier to practical scale-up. In this PhD, you will design, fabricate and test a power-efficient dielectric metasurface that creates a thousand-atom-class trapping array on one compact chip. Your goal will be to deliver validated inverse-design tools, fabrication protocols and benchmark data, culminating in the ambitious demonstration of ≥1,000 simultaneously trapped atoms and potentially the UK’s first metasurface-based atom-trapping platform.
You will work across adaptive optics, nanophotonics, semiconductor nanofabrication and atomic physics, using Southampton’s specialist cleanroom and optical-characterisation facilities alongside the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) neutral-atom quantum-computing platforms. Placements of up to three months at NQCC will give you hands-on experience of system integration, atom loading and performance benchmarking, as well as exposure to a national quantum-computing research environment.
You will receive interdisciplinary training in inverse design, data analysis, responsible innovation and research translation, while developing skills valued across academia, photonics and the quantum industry. This project offers the opportunity to tackle challenges in scalable quantum hardware and contribute directly to compact, modular neutral-atom processors and the UK quantum-technology ecosystem.
The University of Southampton 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.
Application deadlines:
- UK applicants: 31 July 2027
- International applicants: 31 March 2027
