PhD position openings in topological photonics and turbulence in fluids of light

Two ERC-funded PhD position openings in the group of Alberto Amo in Lille, France on the following subjects:

1. Nonlinear topological phases in lattices of coupled micropillars (experimental)

The goal of this thesis is to study experimentally novel topological phases in photonic lattices. We will employ coupled semiconductor micropillars in which photons can hop from site to site. Taking advantage of the extraordinary photon-photon interactions in this system we aim at observing nonlinear topological effects. This PhD thesis is part of the ERC Consolidator grant EmergenTopo, and will be realized in collaboration with French and international theoreticians.

2. Turbulence in polariton fluids (experimental).

The goal of this thesis is to experimentally investigate the turbulent properties of a polariton fluid when passing and obstacle engineered in the microcavity. In a polariton superfluid, not only friction is strongly reduced, but vortices have very special properties: their circulation is quantised and it can only take integer values. Up to now, the main drawback to study turbulent phenomena has been the need of ultrafast single shot measurements, with time resolution in the picosecond scale. Using cutting-edge time resolved spectroscopic techniques developed in our group, we will study the emergence of vortices and other turbulent phenomena in a polariton fluid. We will investigate turbulence in obstacles of different shapes, including obstacles with the form of a plane wing to answer the question of whether a plane can fly in a superfluid of light.

Application deadline: 10th May 2022
Starting date: 1st October 2022 (negotiable)