The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-optical Systems (TMOS) is currently seeking expressions of interest from prospective PhD research higher degree and MSc coursework students. Students should send an expression of interest to Professor Ken Crozier and/or Professor Ann Roberts – a list of potential projects can be found here. PhD applications need to be submitted before the 1 February 2025 to be considered in the second round for 2025 so prospective supervisors need to be contacted well before then. Applications for Semester 1 2025 commencement in the MSc need to be submitted by 1 November 2024. MSc students should note the requirement to contact prospective supervisors well before the deadline since an Expression of Interest form will need to be completed. See https://study.unimelb.edu.au/find/courses/graduate/master-of-science-physics/how-to-apply/
Note that entry to the PhD program at the University is highly competitive and only very high achieving students will be encouraged to submit a full application. Information about PhD studies at Melbourne, including eligibility and the application process can be found here and MSc coursework in Physics here.
Information regarding MSc and PhD projects in X-ray, Synchrotron & Atomic Physics, Quantum Electrodynamics & X-ray Laboratories can be found here here
New experimental techniques developed by Professor Chris Chantler and team allow X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and X-ray Absorption Fine structure (XAFS, and the related technique called XANES) determination with an accuracy increased by up to two orders of magnitude, which in turn challenges all available theory and modelling. The group has produced the first encyclopaedia on X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, https://it.iucr.org/Ia/ by the International Union of Crystallography, edited with Bruce Bunker and Federico Boscherini. International Tables for Crystallography, Volume I: X-ray Absorption spectroscopy and Related Techniques is now published and distributed, and available from Amazon, IUCr and Wiley! This monumental achievement took over 8 years.
Members of the UoM node of TMOS recently celebrated the mid-autumn festival. While we enjoyed a wonderful selection of mooncakes, we talked about our cultural backgrounds and how the moon was involved. This included the building of eel traps by the Gunditjmara people in Budj Bim (now a UNESCO Heritage listed site), in the region around a dormant volcano in southwest Victoria. This approach was influenced by the tides and the moon. The role played by the moon in popular culture was also highlighted and the history and culture of Hakka people introduced.
In work led by PhD student Niken Priscilla, members of the group have been investigating a semi-analytic method for studying the optical properties of arrays of plasmonic nanorods. Our new article – published recently in Optics Express – demonstrates how this method underpins the design of novel metasurfaces using rapid optimisation.
Want to know more about the future role that meta-optics may play in applications ranging from imaging transparent specimens such as unstained biological cells to wavefront recovery for adaptive optics? Students Niken Priscilla and Shaban Sulejman, research fellow Lukas Wesemann and Professor Ann Roberts have recently published a perspective on the optic in ACS Photonics – New Avenues for Phase Imaging: Optical Metasurfaces. The article provides historical context, an overview of current developments and looks to the potential of meta-optics to revolutionise imaging. See article here.
In work just published in Nature Communications, a collaboration between University of Melbourne, CUNY, and RMIT University has demonstrated a metasurface that can be switched between edge detection and producing a conventional image. The device integrates a thin film of VO2 that undergoes a phase change at around 68C altering its optical properties opening up applications in remote sensing and biological imaging. A summary of the work can be found in a TMOS blog post here. Cosmos has also covered the work. Story here.
Work led by Dr Nitu Syed has demonstrated enhanced UV and visible photodetection in ultrathin (< 3nm) nanosheets of SnO2 by integrating plasmonic gold nanoparticles onto their surface. The outcomes have been published in ACS Applied Nano Materials.
Dr Alex Wood and Professor Andy Martin are seeking a research fellow to work on levitated nanodiamonds. Applications close 8 June. Details at: https://jobs.unimelb.edu.au/en/job/916909/research-fellow-in-experimental-levitated-optomechanics. Contact Alex (alexander.wood@unimelb.edu.au) for more information.
Last week in Canberra, PhD student Shaban Sulejman was announced as a 2024 Fulbright Future Scholar and recognized by the US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy. Shaban will be taking up the scholarship later in the year to work with TMOS Partner Investigator Professor Andrea Alu at CUNY.