PhD studentship available

A PhD studentship is available as part of a joint project between the National Physical Laboratory, University College London (UCL) and the University of Oxford, aimed at the trapping and manipulation of microbubbles in optical and acoustical fields, to transform them into micro-sensors. The project already employs a PhD student for the theoretical part: we are currently recruiting a student for the experimental side of the project.

The work will be mainly conducted at NPL under the direction of Dr Gianluca Memoli, and the student will be registered for a PhD with Dr Philip Jones, at the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London.

The studentship is available for three years, starting in early 2012 and will pay a stipend and fees at a rate applicable for UK and EU students.

Candidates should have a degree in Physics or Engineering and previous experimental experience (with lasers or ultrasound or microfluidics) would be a clear advantage.

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is one of the UK's leading science facilities and research centres. It is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate standards, science and technology available.

NPL occupies a unique position as the UK's National Measurement Institute and sits at the intersection between scientific discovery and real world application. Its expertise and original research have underpinned quality of life, innovation and competitiveness for UK citizens and business for more than a century.

NPL is based in a unique research environment which is located in pleasant surroundings on the edge of Bushy Park in south-west London. We have a host of onsite facilities including a subsidised crèche, restaurant, and a sports and social club.

NPL Management Limited is committed to supporting their people to develop both personally and professionally and is committed to equal opportunities.

To apply for this position, please send your CV and any other relevant information to:

Dr Gianluca Memoli
Tel: +44 20 8943 6062
Email: gianluca.memoli@npl.co.uk

The cosing date for aplications is 31 December 2011.

Optical trapping of porous silicon nanoparticles

Our paper Optical trapping of proous silicon nanoparticles has now been published as M. G. Donato et al, Nanotechnology 22 505704 (2011).

Abstract: Silicon nanoparticles obtained by ball-milling of a 50% porosity silicon layer have been optically trapped when dispersed in a water–surfactant environment. We measured the optical force constants using linearly and radially polarized trapping beams finding a reshaping of the optical potential and an enhanced axial spring constant for the latter. These measurements open perspectives for the control and handling of silicon nanoparticles as labeling agents in biological analysis and fluorescence imaging techniques.

Harrie Massey Lecture

Prof Niek van Hulst (ICFO Barcelona) is visiting the UCL Physics Department today and giving the annual Harrie Massey Lecture on the topic of Coherent control of single molecules, complexes and nanoantennae.

Abstract: The observation of quantum mechanical effects in biological systems, such as light-harvesting antennae, has opened a lively debate as to the role of coherences in natural systems. Traditionally, such coherences are probed by manipulating quantum interference effects with shaped laser pulses. Yet the intrinsic structural inhomogeneity and environmental fluctuations of complex systems at ambient conditions average out most oscillatory spectroscopic features. Only by “single molecule detection” one can hope to catch a glimpse through the disorder. This lecture will present coherent control of single molecules, allowing both observation and manipulation of vibrational wave-packet interference and Rabi-oscillations in individual molecules at ambient conditions. The single-molecule approach ensures that the ultimate degree of coherent control can be realized. We have applied our novel method to single light-harvesting complexes and optical nanoantennas. Recent results on ultrafast quantum coherent energy transfer and femtosecond control of nanoscale hotspots will be presented.

Visit by Onofrio Marago and Maria Grazia Donato

This week (21-26 November) Onofrio Marago and Maria Grazia Donato from the NanoSoft Lab, IPCF-CNR (Messina) are visiting our group at UCL.  Our groups have a long-running collaboration, and exchange visits are funded by the Royal Society as part of our International Joint Project on Photonic Force Microscopy.

Microbubble User Group Meeting

The latest Microbubble User Group (microBUG) meeting is being held on Wed 16 November at Imperial College.  The programme of talks for the day is:

David (single bubble characterisation)
Susan (optical trapping of bubbles)
Terence (acousto-optic bubble characterisation)
Virginie (bubble formation in decompression sickness)
Jonathan (charactertization of adherent microbubbles)
Grace (stability of gold coated bubbles)
IEEE meeting highlights

The meetings are held in the Royal School of Mines, and hosted by Mengxing Tang.

Visit to NanoSoft Lab, IPCF-CNR (Messina)

Phil is spending the week of 07-11 November visiting Onofrio Marago and colleagues at the NanoSoft Lab, IPCF-CNR (Messina).  Our groups have a long-running collaboration, and exchange visits are funded by the Royal Society as part of our International Joint Project on Photonic Force Microscopy.

Physics Department Colloquium

Dr Gavin Crooks (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley) will be giving this term's Departmental Colloquium today, Wed 19 Oct, on Statistical Thermodynamics and the Breaking of Time Symmetry.

Abstract: The irreversible dissipation of energy is directly related to the breaking of time reversal symmetry. I will discuss some of the implication of these phenomena to microscopic, driven non-equilibrium systems, such as single molecular force-extension experiments, biological molecular motors and artificial photosynthesis.