PhD Studentship: Interfacing Semiconductor Quantum Dots With Alkali-Atom-Based Quantum Memories

2 weeks ago


Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

PhD Supervisor: Dr Patrick Ledingham

Supervisory Team: Dr Patrick Ledingham

Project description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.

Quantum photonic networks enable powerful technologies like quantum computing, unprecedented sensing capability, and guaranteed secure communication, operating at high bandwidth and in ambient conditions. This PhD project, in the Southampton group of Dr Patrick M Ledingham, concerns the development of a quantum optical memory – a device that stores and recalls on-demand quantum photonic states – to allow for synchronisation capability that will be crucial to scale up a future quantum photonic network.

The project will explore warm alkali vapours to develop a quantum optical memory that:


  1. operates at near or within the telecommunication C-band wavelength range;
  2. stores and recalls photons of a bandwidth in the GHz range;
  3. operates with near-unit efficiency and with near-zero noise contributions on the output.

This unique capability enables you to enact effective storage and recall of single photons emitted from sources based on semiconductor quantum dots. This capability is a much sought-after one within the quantum photonics community and would pave the way for disruptive quantum technologies such as secure quantum communications and photonic quantum computers.

The approach will be based on protocols and techniques of the off-resonant cascaded absorption memory and atomic frequency comb memory, pioneered in part by the group leader and supervisor Dr Patrick M Ledingham. The candidate will explore combining novel optical pumping and techniques to overcome Doppler dephasing mechanisms.

The project will enable the candidate to develop numerous practical experimental skills, such as laser spectroscopy, optical pumping, spectral hole burning, quantum and non-linear optics, cryogenics, RF electronics, programming experimental controls, and single photon counting. You will present your work at national and international conferences, and there are plenty of chances for local and international collaboration.

If you are interested, please contact the supervisor for more information: Patrick Ledingham

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: 31 August 2024.

Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships. For more information please visit PhD Scholarships | Doctoral College | University of Southampton Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered.

How To Apply

Apply online: Search for a Postgraduate Programme of Study ). Select programme type (Research), Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select "PhD iMR". In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor.

Applications should include:

  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Two reference letters
  • Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-

Funding will be awarded on a rolling basis, so apply early for the best opportunity to be considered



  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    PhD Supervisor: Dr Patrick LedinghamSupervisory Team: Dr Patrick Ledingham & Alberto PolitiProject description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory team: Dr. Tim Freegarde, David Harvey, Dr. Andrei DragomirProject description The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.Quantum inertial sensors,...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Dr James Gates, Dr Rex BannermanProject description:The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.Using Southampton's state-of-the-art...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Project title: Quantum Meta-Optics Supervisory Team: Dr Bruce Ou, Prof Otto MuskensProject description:The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.Meta-optics,...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    PhD Supervisor: Dr Elinor TwyeffortSupervisory Team: Dr Elinor TwyeffortProject description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.Controlling and...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Prof. Otto Muskens; Alberto PolitiProject Description:In this project, the student will develop new technologies for integrated quantum optical chips allowing programming and tuning of devices under different operating conditions and in particular for operation in a cryogenic environment. The ability to actively control different parts of...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Project title: Integrated photonics for ion-trap quantum computing Supervisory Team: Dr Peter Horak, Dr James GatesProject description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical,...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    PhD Supervisors: Dr Peter Horak, Dr James GatesSupervisory Team: Dr Peter Horak, Dr James GatesProject description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Dr Basel Halak, Dr Erisa KarafiliProject description:This PhD project focuses on developing strategies to secure digital infrastructures against the imminent threats posed by quantum computers.Quantum computing technology, leveraging Shor's algorithm, is expected to dismantle existing public-key cryptography. This jeopardizes the security...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Chris-Kriton Skylaris (80%) Jeremy Frey (20%) Project Description: The computational simulation of chemical reactions in materials requires an accurate, explicit description of their electrons. This can be achieved by quantum mechanical calculations from first principles, in particular with Density Functional Theory (DFT) which achieves a...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Prof Corin Gawith, Dr Goronwy TawyProject description:The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.Nonlinear parametric photonics is used to...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Project title: Quantum Coding assisted Quantum Key distribution Supervisory Team: Prof Michael Ng, Prof Lajos Hanzo, Dr Chao XuProject description:The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific,...

  • PhD Studentship

    2 weeks ago


    Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Chris-Kriton Skylaris (80%) Jeremy Frey (20%)Project description:Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations are typically limited to tens of atoms due to the steep increase of the computational effort with the number of atoms. Recent developments have led to "linear-scaling" reformulations of DFT which allow calculations with thousands of...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    PhD Supervisors: Dr James Gates, Dr Paul GowSupervisory Team: Dr James Gates, Dr Paul GowProject description:The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.Quantum...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Prof Michael Ng, Prof Lajos Hanzo, Dr Chao Xu Project Description:The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills. Quantum Secure Direct...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    PhD Supervisor: Prof Thomas BlumensathSupervisory Team: Prof Thomas BlumensathProject description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.This project...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Dr Chris Holmes, Dr James GatesProject description: Join the forefront of Quantum Technology Engineering at the University of Southampton. In collaboration with esteemed partners Caltech (California Institute of Technology) and Aquark Technologies Ltd., we are offering a unique PhD opportunity to develop ultra-high-Q ring resonators,...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Dr Sajjad Taravati, Dr Jize Yan, Dr Mustafa BakrProject Description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.This groundbreaking research...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Chris-Kriton Skylaris (90%) Andrea Russell (10%)Project description:Proton-exchange Membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells are an emerging technology for environmentally sustainable transport and other carbon-neutral energy applications. A crucial component of these devices are the metallic catalyst nanoparticles which allow the chemical...


  • Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom University of Southampton Full time

    Supervisory Team: Prof Ilya Kuprov, Dr Marina CarravettaProject description: The University of Southampton is expanding its PhD research in the area of Quantum Technology Engineering. In addition to the research project outlined below you will receive substantial training in scientific, technical, and commercial skills.Spin is a relativistic property of...