Fully Funded PhD Studentship in Terahertz imaging for spectroscopic applications

The Department of Engineering at Lancaster University is pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded PhD studentship in Electronic Engineering, to commence in October 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Terahertz (THz) range (1-10 THz corresponds to vacuum wavelengths between 30-300 m) represents an exciting portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with unique applications in communications, spectroscopy and imaging. THz imaging has an enormous potential in both fundamental research and industrial applications [1], such as pharmaceutical quality control [2], materials characterisation [3] and biomedical imaging [4]. However, one of the bottlenecks has been the need for raster scanning as part of THz imaging acquisition. Exploiting the compactness of metamaterials and the electrically tenability of graphene [7, 8], this project will combine computational imaging together with graphene integrated metamaterials to enable real-time THz imaging. This project will involve the design, simulation, fabrication and testing of spatial light modulators and detectors based on metamaterials and graphene, operating in the terahertz frequency range and their application in solid-state spectroscopy and imaging. Graphene samples and expertise will be provided by the established collaboration with University of Cambridge. The PhD candidate will develop expertise in device fabrication using standard clean room techniques, as well as proficiency in device characterisation using facilities available in the Engineering Department.

[1] “Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging”, edited by K.-E. Peiponen, J. A. Zeitler, M. Kuwata-Gonokami, Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg (2013).
[2] Y.-C. Shen et al. “Development and application of terahertz pulsed imaging for non-destructive inspection of pharmaceutical tablet,” IEEE J. Sel. Topics in Quantum Electron. 14(2), 407–415, (2008).
[3] H Lin, et al. “Contactless graphene conductivity mapping on a wide range of substrates with terahertz time-domain reflection spectroscopy,”Sci. Rep. 7 (1), 10625, (2017).
[4] E. Pickwell et al. “Biomedical Applications of Terahertz Technology,” J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 39 (17), 301−310, (2006).
[5] C. M Watts et al. “Terahertz compressive imaging with metamaterial spatial light modulators,” Nat. Photon. 8, 605-609 (2014).
[6] W. L. Chan et al. “A single-pixel terahertz imaging system based on compressed sensing,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 121105, (2008).
[7] R. Degl’Innocenti et al. “All-integrated terahertz modulators” invited review article, Nanophotonics, 7(1) 127-144, (2018)
[8] R. Degl’Innocenti et al. “Fast room temperature detection of terahertz quantum cascade lasers with graphene loaded bow-tie plasmonic antenna arrays” ACS Photon. 3, 1747, (2016).

To be eligible for the studentship, the funding requirements are that you must either be a U.K. citizen or a European Union national. The stipend for eligible students would be £15,009 for 2019/2020 and subject to national adjustments.

For more information contact: Dr. Riccardo Degl’Innocenti ([Email Address Removed]) or Dr. Hungyen Lin ([Email Address Removed]).
http://www.engineering.lancs.ac.uk/