Traditional optical systems use multiple high-precision elements to achieve imaging and detection goals. Ground-based telescopes use lenslet arrays for wavefront sensing, but they have limitations based on manufacturing constraints. Similarly, the optical systems traditionally used for polarimetry and multispectral imaging are bulky and heavy, limiting their use to only large multi-million dollar satellites. 

Metasurfaces are nano-structured flat optical elements that can arbitrarily control the phase profile of a wavefront depending on the topological design of the nanostructures. The ultra-thin nature of metasurfaces makes them a superior design choice for optical systems that are constrained by the size, weight and complexity of conventional optical elements. 

A student project can be tailored to the student’s interest; theory topics can focus on optical system designs or metasurface topology optimisation, and experimental topics can focus on characterisation, calibration and imaging demonstration in the lab. The student would also have the choice of working on a project for satellite remote imaging or wavefront sensing for ground-based telescopes.

Physics; Mathematics; Computational Science