PhD position - Electro-optically Tunable Meta Circuits Wavefront Shaping

Organisation/Company AMOLF Research Field Engineering » Electrical engineering Engineering » Microengineering Physics » Applied physics Physics » Optics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Final date to receive applications 18 Aug 2026 - 11:01 (UTC) Country Netherlands Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Not Applicable Hours Per Week 40.0 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

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How do you shape light extremely fast and with high precision? Can you make programmable pixels that are fed light by integrated optics, and that can be programmed to project a designer beam, focus, or wavefront into free space? The goal of the METAPIC project is to develop the technology to do this. You will build so-called metasurface pixels, that can sit on a single chip and quickly change how they direct light.

The metasurface pixels are patches filled with 2D arrays of scatterers (“meta-atoms”) precisely tailored for diffractive out coupling and wavefront shaping at the same time. Each metasurface pixel receives light from wave guides on the chip. By using the latest advances in electrooptic nonlinear materials, these wave guides can adjust the brightness and phase of the light at very high speed.

The METAPIC project is an academic research project funded by the Groeifonds Photon Delta, and led by expert in integrated optics, Imran Avci at Free University Amsterdam (VU). We will combine this expertise with state of the art metasurface design, nanofabrication and characterization techniques that have their home base  will work together with industry partners, notably including Rapid Photonics and PlanOPSim.

Together we aim to develop the technology to create a low-loss and scalable system for dynamic control of light. This technology could have an impact on fields such as measurement science, LiDAR, adaptive optics and VR/AR.

In this project you will develop a design and fabrication strategy for integrated optics and metasurfaces on electrooptic nonlinear materials, and you will have access to the AMOLF nanolab cleanroom to realize these designs. You will use state of the art microscopy methods to map the performance of your structures, moving to progressively more advanced prototypes. This project is ideal if you like to be involved in a PhD that covers the full cycle of numerical design, nanofabrication, and optics characterization, and if you have a keen interest in working towards real-world impact by working with dutch industry partners in the Photon Delta ecosystem.

You have a MSc degree in physics, optics, photonics, nanoscience, or a related field
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The project will be a collaboration between the Resonant Nanophotonics group at AMOLF and the team of Dr. Imran Avci at the VU (Free University, Amsterdam). You will be employed at AMOLF and be embedded in the AMOLF team. The project will involve work discussions and collaboration with the VU team, as well as interaction with the industry partners.

AMOLF is a national institute that is part of NWO-I. Its mission is to initiate and perform fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials, in partnership with academia and industry. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park and currently employs about 140 researchers and 80 support employees.(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..nl

The research activities in the Resonant Nanophotonics group at AMOLF (PI Femius Koenderink) aim at developing nanoscale photonic structures, such as metasurface optics, optical nanoantennas and resonators to control scattering, emission, amplification and detection of light. Our work has applications in the domains of nanophotonic light sources, optical metrology, microscopy, and wavebased information processing.

• The working atmosphere at the institute is largely determined by young, enthusiastic, mostly foreign employees. Communication is informal and runs through short lines of communication.
• The position is intended as full-time (40 hours / week, 12 months /…