PhD Studentship: Quantum-enhanced Levitated Mechanical Sensors

Application deadline: All year round
Research theme: Photonics, Quantum technology, Optomechanics

This 3.5-year PhD project is funded by the Department of Engineering. The position is part of research support offered by the School for a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. Applications are welcome from home and overseas applicants. Tuition fees will be paid, and the successful applicant will receive a tax free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26). The start date is 1st October 2026. This advert will be removed once the position has been filled so we encourage applicants to apply early.

The second quantum revolution aims to create devices that exhibit a quantum advantage – a step-change in performance gained by leveraging properties of quantum mechanics. The development of quantum sensors for acceleration sensing is a key priority due to its potential to revolutionise inertial navigation, environmental monitoring and geological surveying. Presently, the acceleration sensing market is dominated by clamped mechanical oscillators, which typically comprise of compact mass-on-spring systems whose mechanical response to external forces is used as sensor readout. However, their sensitivity is limited by their clamping mechanism, which acts as an unavoidable loss channel and makes it challenging to access quantum resources for sensing and to tune the bandwidth of the sensor.

The rapidly growing field of levitated optomechanics [1] has the potential to overcome these limitations by using optical fields to trap and control mechanical systems in vacuum. Recent advances have succeeded in preparing quantum states of nanoparticles serving as mechanical systems [2] and scaling up the system size to multi-particle arrays [3,4].

By leveraging quantum and many-body resources in levitated optomechanics, this project aims to deliver proof-of-concept quantum acceleration sensors ready for technological adoption.

[1] Gonzalez-Ballestero et al, Science 374, 6564 (2021)
[2] Piotrowski et al, Nature Physics 19, 1009-1013 (2023)
[3] Vijayan et al, Nature Nanotechnology 18, 49–54 (2023)
[4] Vijayan et al, Nature Physics 20, 859-864 (2024)

Desirable qualities:
This project would suit a creative and motivated candidate with an interest in building quantum technology and learning a wide range of skills in optical systems, precision measurements, electronic control and feedback systems, vacuum systems, data analysis, and scientific writing and communication. Experience in working in an optics lab and programming in Python will be beneficial but is not necessary.

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

To apply, please contact the supervisor, Dr Jayadev Vijayan - jayadev.vijayan@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

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