PhD in Spatiotemporal Light Generation Frequency-Gradient Metasurfaces

PhD in Spatiotemporal Light Generation with Frequency-Gradient Metasurfaces Departments, Department of Applied Physics and Science Education Introduction

How can we control light in space, time, and frequency to make photonic systems faster, more compact, and more versatile?
In this PhD project, you will develop frequency-gradient metasurfaces for ultrafast beam steering, temporal focusing, and self-torque, combining design, nanofabrication, and femtosecond experiments.

Current photonic components can shape light with remarkable spatial precision, but controlling its spatial, spectral, and temporal structure simultaneously remains far more difficult. This limits how fast, compact, and versatile optical systems can become. In this PhD project, you will develop frequency-gradient metasurfaces that couple these degrees of freedom and enable ultrafast control of structured light. The aim is to realize beam steering, temporal focusing, and self-torque generation on femtosecond timescales, and to establish compact platforms relevant to next-generation imaging, communication, and photonic information processing.

Your research will span the full cycle from concept to experiment. You will:

• Develop design strategies for 2D and 3D frequency-gradient metasurfaces.
• Model and optimize their electromagnetic, spectral, and dispersive response.
• Explore ultrafast beam steering, temporal focusing, and self-torque generation through harmonic beating.
• Fabricate the designed nanophotonic structures using TU/e cleanroom facilities.
• Build femtosecond optical experiments to characterize the generated spatiotemporal light fields.
• Use experimental results to refine the designs and improve device performance.

The project is part of SPARK – Spatiotemporal Photonic Technologies, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network bringing together academic and industrial partners across Europe. SPARK will train 15 doctoral candidates working across spatiotemporal metamaterials, structured light, ultrafast optics, nanophotonics, and advanced fabrication.

You will be based at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and supervised by Dr. Ahmed H. Dorrah, with Prof. Marco Piccardo at INESC MN, Portugal, as co-supervisor. A key part of the PhD is international and intersect oral training. You will spend 6 months at INESC MN in Portugal, focusing on theoretical modelling, holography, and ultrafast characterization, and 3 months at NKT Photonics in Denmark, working on supercontinuum-laser characterization.

You will also take part in SPARK training schools, workshops, webinars, conferences, and network-wide activities. These will give you exposure to different research environments, broaden your technical background, and connect you with researchers and industry partners across Europe.

At TU/e, you will join the Photonics and Semiconductor Nanophysics (PSN) group, where you will work in an interdisciplinary environment with strong expertise in nanophotonics, meta-optics, structured light, and optical characterization, with access to advanced nanofabrication and ultrafast optical facilities.

• A Master’s degree in Applied Physics, Physics, Optics/Photonics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
• A strong foundation in electromagnetics, optics, and/or photonics.
• Experience with scientific programming or electromagnetic modelling, for example using Python, MATLAB, COMSOL, Lumerical, Tidy3D, or similar tools.
• Interest or experience in nanophotonics, metasurfaces, structured light, ultrafast optics, nanofabrication, or optical experiments.
• The ability to work independently while contributing effectively to an international and interdisciplinary research team.
• Strong written and spoken…