PhD positions in Self-Assembled Icosahedral Photonic Quasicrystals with a Band Gap for Visible Light

Binary mixtures of hard colloids self-assemble into a 3D icosahedral quasicrystal under certain conditions. This breakthrough, very recently discovered by the Soft Condensed Matter group in Utrecht (by both simulations and experiments: 10.1038/s41567-020-1003-9), suggests a way forward for the creation of photonic quasicrystals. Due to their non-periodic structure and exotic symmetries, quasicrystals - when created from particles of the right size and refractive index - are very promising candidates for materials that strongly manipulate visible light via band gaps. Such materials are relevant to fundamental studies and for a wide range of applications, from spontaneous emission control, via sensing, to lighting, lasers, photonic circuitry, photo-catalysis and structural colors.

A team of 5 PhD students from 4 groups at Utrecht University and Twente University will work together to achieve, for the first time, the self-assembly of photonic colloidal icosahedral quasicrystals as well as the associated periodic MgCu2 Laves phase crystals. The 5 PhD students will tackle many different aspects of this problem. Below we describe the plans for the 3 PhD students who will be hosted at Utrecht University.