Smart Lasers and Special Fibres

Location: Highfield Campus
Salary: £34,980 Per annum
Full Time Fixed Term for 3 years
Closing Date: Thursday 11 July 2024
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Reference: 2765324PN

We are looking for a candidate with interest in computer simulation and numerical modelling of a new water window X-ray microscope. The project is an exciting new EPSRC-funded collaboration between the University of Southampton's School of Chemistry and Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), the Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI), and the Central Laser Facility (CLF) at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories. The project will design and construct a lab-scale soft X-ray microscope for biological imaging using soft X-rays generated using ultrafast lasers and applying coherent diffractive imaging techniques.

You will be part of a vibrant, multidisciplinary community of physicists, chemists, computer scientists, and biologists at Southampton, the RFI, and the CLF, working together to construct a new laser laboratory at the Rutherford Appleton Labs in Harwell, home of the most powerful femtosecond lasers in the UK, and of the Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI), a new UK research institute with a focus in biological imaging using several complementary modalities and radiations. The lab will be based around a new generation of femtosecond laser sources which produce high energy femtosecond pulses in the infrared at average powers that are a factor of 100 higher than typical femtosecond lasers.

Your post will be based at the University of Southampton within its Optoelectronics Research Centre. You will develop and use computer simulations of ultrahigh-power laser pulse propagation in hollow waveguides and high-harmonic generation. Your simulations and modelling will contribute to the optimisation of the X-ray generation efficiency, ultimately creating a “digital twin” of the instrument being built at Harwell. Commitment to working with experimentalists to improve experimental design is important. You will also collaborate with teams at the RFI and the CLF who will develop ptychography software, which is the computational method of microscopic imaging at the heart of the system.

If you have a PhD in Physics or another relevant discipline and an interest in computational optics, we will welcome your application for this position of Research Fellow. We will consider applications from candidates who are still working towards and nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification; in this case the job title will be “Senior Research Assistant”, and the title of “Research Fellow” will be applied upon successful completion of the PhD

Join us and become part of our multidisciplinary project team which will provide you with experience in some of the most exciting areas of photonics and imaging science, together with strong support for career development!