Supervisory Team: Dr Peter Horak, Dr Bill Brocklesby
Project Description
We are looking for a PhD student to join our interdisciplinary team of students, postdocs, and senior researchers with backgrounds in physics, chemistry, and engineering, to work on the development of a new femtosecond laser-based source of X-ray pulses approaching the attosecond regime (less than a millionth of a billionth of a second long).
Generation of such femtosecond and attosecond X-ray pulses using intense laser pulses has transformed ultrafast science, as recognised by the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics. The ability to produce coherent ultrafast X-ray pulses has applications in many areas, from the investigation of ultrafast molecular dynamics to biomedical imaging. In this PhD project you will exploit computer simulations to develop sources for X-ray microscopy which will be realised in our labs at the University of Southampton and at the Rosalind Franklin Institute at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, near Oxford.
New femtosecond fibre laser-based ultrafast pulse sources and novel hollow-core optical fibres have the potential to produce brighter and shorter-wavelength X-ray pulses. The project will investigate theoretically and numerically how these new sources can be developed and optimised, in parallel with the experimental work in our labs. You will investigate all effects that contribute to X-ray emission by high-harmonic generation, including propagation of ultrashort intense laser pulses through a dilute gas, ionisation of the gas by these pulses, the interaction of the resulting plasma with the laser, and the subsequent X-ray emission by atomic recombination.
You will be developing the comprehensive computer model used within our group as the basis for this project. The code is written in C++ and Python and runs on the Southampton supercomputer cluster Iridis. The project is therefore best suited for a student with a strong interest in programming and high-performance computing as well as a background in physics, nonlinear optics and/or lasers. You will benefit from the world-leading expertise in these fields by your collaborators and work in a supportive group of like-minded researchers, leading you to a PhD in an exciting new area of physics and technology.
Find out more about:
Our department and research group:
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/about/faculties-schools-departments/zepler-institute
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/research/groups/computational-nonlinear-optics
The PhD programme:
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/photonics-optoelectronics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2_6yNQamkU
Entry Requirements
A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).
Closing Date
Applications are accepted throughout the year. The start date will typically be late September, but other dates are possible.
Funding
For UK students, tuition fees and a stipend at the UKRI rate plus £2,000 ORC enhancement tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years (totalling around £21,000 for 2024/25, rising annually). EU and Horizon Europe students are eligible for scholarships. CSC students are eligible for fee waivers. Funding for other international applicants is very limited and highly competitive. Overseas students who have secured or are seeking external funding are welcome to apply.
How To Apply
Apply online: Search for a Postgraduate Programme of Study (soton.ac.uk) . Select programme type (Research), Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD ORC”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor.
Applications should include:
Curriculum Vitae
Two reference letters
Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date
For further information please contact: [email protected]