Hyperuniform disordered metasurfaces for solar thermal energy conversion

Supervisory Team: Professor Marian Florescu

Harnessing structural disorder to control light offers a new route to highly efficient solar thermal energy harvesting. This project will develop and model hyperuniform disordered metasurfaces, a new class of nanostructured materials that achieve near perfect absorption and minimal thermal losses for next generation solar thermal energy systems.

This project will investigate how structural correlations in disordered photonic materials can be engineered to control the absorption, scattering and emission of light for high efficiency solar thermal energy conversion. By uniting advanced electromagnetic theory, large scale computation and experimental collaboration, it will establish the principles and design rules of hyperuniform disordered metasurfaces, a new class of materials that use correlated disorder for precise and broadband light management.

The research will develop a comprehensive theoretical and computational framework for metal dielectric metal metasurfaces that achieve selective solar absorption. Large scale simulations based on the finite element and finite difference time domain methods will be used to analyse how degrees of hyperuniformity influence broadband absorption, angular response and thermal emission. The outcomes will provide new physical insight into the link between geometric correlations and optical performance.

The research programme will focus on:

• the theoretical formulation and numerical modelling of solar selective metasurfaces based on hyperuniform geometries
• the design and optimisation of correlated disorder using physics-informed and machine-learning methodologies
• parametric and multiphysics simulations to identify pathways toward near-unity absorption and suppressed thermal emission
• collaboration with experimental partners at the University of Bristol and Northumbria University on the fabrication and optical characterisation of prototype metasurfaces

The Optoelectronics Research Centre at Southampton provides access to state-of-the-art computational facilities and over 90 specialist laboratories. The project offers training in computational electromagnetics, photonic materials design and data driven optimisation within a collaborative environment that bridges theory, simulation and experiment.

Entry requirements

You must have a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a discipline relevant to the field of optics or nanophotonics.

Fees and funding

Full scholarships include tuition fees, a stipend at the UKRI rate plus 10% ORC enhancement tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years (totalling £22,858 for 2025/26, rising annually) and a budget of £4200 for things like conference travel.

UK, EU and Horizon Europe students are eligible for scholarships. CSC students are eligible for fee waivers. Funding for other international applicants is very limited and highly competitive. Overseas students who have secured or are seeking external funding are welcome to apply.

For more information, please visit our postgraduate research funding pages.

How to apply

Apply now

You need to:

• choose programme type (Research), 2026/27, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
• select Full time or Part time
• search for programme PhD ORC (7097)
• add name of the supervisor in section 2 of the application

Applications should include:

• your CV (resumé)
• 2 academic references
• degree transcripts and certificates to date
• English language qualification (if applicable)

Contact us

Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences

If you have a general question, feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk.

Project leader

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact M.Florescu@soton.ac.uk.