MSCA doctoral network (SPARK) PhD position in numerical photonics

About this position

Perfect Broadband Temporal Metamaterial Absorbers

The Lobet research team part of the NISM institute of the Science Faculty of the University of Namur (Belgium), is looking for a PhD candidate part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) doctoral network SPARK project on the topic of “ Perfect Broadband Temporal Metamaterial Absorbers ” to perform theoretical and numerical calculations, as well as experimental fabrication and characterization in the novel domain of “ time-varying photonics”, in collaboration with Prof. H. Caglayan (TU/e) and S.Burger (JCMWave).

Research/project description

The project will target the realization of perfect broadband absorbers through time-varying metamaterials. Modelling homogeneous lossy time-varying media as well as using machine-learning optimization to reach broadband absorption are targeted.

Secondments include 3 months at JCMWave for industry exposure and 6 months at TU/e (H. Caglayan) for nanofabrication and characterization. By producing perfect broadband temporal metamaterial absorbers, the doctoral candidate contributes to one of the research objectives of the doctoral network SPARK ( SPARK MSCA Doctoral Network ) .

Over the course of the thesis, the candidate will develop skills in theoretical modelling and simulation of twisted photonic crystals (UNamur), nanofabrication of photonic structures (TU/e), and contact with industry (JCMwave), gained through secondments as well as shared expertise with the whole SPARK doctoral network consortium.

The SPARK network is coordinated by Humeyra Caglayan (TU/e EE) and brings together Nicolò Maccaferri (UMU) , Iñigo Liberal (UPNA) , Paloma Arroyo Huidobro (UAM) , Marco Piccardo (INESC MN and Técnico Lisboa) , Michaël Lobet (UNamur) , Riccardo Sapienza (Imperial) , and Ahmed H. Dorrah (TU/e AP) . It will hire 15 phD students that will work closely to advance spatiotemporal photonic technologies.

Research environment:

The Michaël Lobet's Research Team | UNamur , part of the NISM institute (Namur Institute of Structured Matter), has a long-standing expertise in theoretical and numerical physics, especially in photonics. The direct work environment is composed of experienced researchers such as Prof. Michaël Lobet (PI for the current call), Prof. Luc Henrard, Prof. Olivier Deparis and Prof. Alexandre Mayer.

The candidate will benefit from the scientific network of the lab including of several high-ranked universities, such as Harvard, UPenn, Stanford, University of Navarra, Tsinghua University, DTU,… Close collaborations with the doctoral network member are foreseen, on top of the announced secondments at TU/e and JCMWave.

The lab members have access to state-of-the-art HPC Tier 2 facilities through the CECI consortium. The capabilities of the CECI clusters cover a range of facilities including very fast CPUs and GPU accelerators. We also have access to supercomputer facilities of the regional Tier-1 (Zenobe) and projects can be submitted to the EuroHPC initiative.

Over the years, the lab developed either homemade codes (rigorous couple wave analysis, plane wave expansions, finite-difference time domain method, etc.), know-how using open softwares under GNU license (MEEP, MPB, etc.) or commercial solutions (Lumerical FDTD, Comsol Multiphysics) required to perform the present project. Moreover, INESC MN and IMEC facilities are state-of-the-art for fabrication and characterization.

The University of Namur has been awarded with the “HR Excellence in Research” label in 2013 confirming its alignment of HR policies with the principles of the European Charter for Researcher and a code of conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. Namur is the capital city of the French-speaking part of Belgium. It is located 60 km south (or 1h by train) of Brussels and is surrounded by a beautiful countryside.

The PhD will join a dynamic team, composed of 2 post-docs, 5 phDs students and 2 master. The team particularly cares for the well-being of its members (team building, scientific retreat, etc.).

Recent publications of the team

• O. Mello, L. Vertchenko, S. Nelson, A. Debacq, D. Guney, E. Mazur, M. Lobet , “Long-range quantum entanglement in dielectric mu-near-zero metamaterials”, Light Sci Appl 14 , 300 (2025).
• N. Roy, L. Beicheng, S. Fan, A. Mayer, M. Lobet . "Twist-Induced Beam Steering and Blazing Effects in Photonic Crystal Devices.", Light Sci Appl 14 , 263 (2025).
• M. Lobet, N. Kinsey, I. Liberal, H. Caglayan, P. A. Huidobro, E. Galiffi, J. R. Mejía-Salazar, G. Palermo, Z. Jacob, N. Maccaferri, "New horizons in near-zero refractive index photonics and hyperbolic metamaterials." ACS Photonics, 10, 3805–3820 (2023).
• M. Lobet, I. Liberal, L. Vertchenko, A. Lavrinenko, N. Engheta, E. Mazur, “Momentum considerations inside near-zero index materials”, Light Sci Appl 11, 110 (2022).
• H. Li, Z. Zhou, Z., W. Sun, M. Lobet , N. Engheta, I. Liberal, Y. Li, “Direct observation of ideal electromagnetic fluids”, Nat. Commun 13, 4747 (2022).
• M. Lobet, I. Liberal, E. N. Knall, M. Zahirul Alam, O. Reshef, R. W. Boyd, N. Engheta, E. Mazur, “Fundamental Radiative Processes in Near-Zero-Index Media of Various Dimensionalities”, ACS Photonics, 7 (8), 1965-1970 (2020).
• Liberal, M. Lobet, Y. Li, N. Engheta, “Near-zero index media as electromagnetic ideal fluids”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (39) 24050-24054 (2020).