The position available in the field of NANO4WAVES requires strong expertise in electromagnetics, with emphasis on electromagnetic propagation phenomena in complex nanocomposite and artificial metamaterials. We plan to do analytical investigations of electromagnetic properties of such materials, numerical simulations, and microwave experiments, with the main goal to understand EM interactions with nano-metamaterial and how one can tailor properties that will provide the desired and optimized functionality in a wide variety of applications, for new designs of antennas and devices, in a wide range of frequencies and wavelengths, from centimeter to infrared, with a particular focus on “tunability” and “multifunctionality” or synergy between EM and other properties: thermal, mechanical, acoustic, ….

Description

Artificial or composite materials dedicated to the control of wireless propagation of signals (popularized over the last decade under the term “metamaterials” in the scientific community) are multi-functional materials tailored to display electromagnetic (EM) properties not found in nature, through a nonconventional modification of their macroscopic effective permittivity and/or permeability, sometimes reaching negative values. Superlensing beyond the diffraction limit, cloaking invisibility of objects, left-handed propagation reducing the size of devices to one tenth of their operating wavelength, frequency selective electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures are some of the outstanding developments over various frequency ranges, going from optics to GHz. The NANO4WAVES project positions itself at the cutting edge of such artificial materials, breaking some of the paradigms and limitations governing their design, synthesis and characterization. Indeed, it aims at investigating and demonstrating the potential of a clever hierarchization into polymer matrices of nanoscaled inclusions (carbon nanotubes, graphene, metallic nanotubes and nanospheres) for controlling nanosecond signals, with a dramatic impact on the electromagnetic propagation at wavelengths ranging from micrometers up to tenths of centimeters. This is paving the road towards simple and compact implementations of surface and volume EM metamaterials suited for a wide variety of applications based on multifunctional materials and surfaces. The candidate will be integrated into a multidisciplinary team supported by a unique and original combination of expertises available at UCL in polymer rheology and processing (Prof. C. Bailly), metal nanoparticles synthesis and chemical functionalization techniques (Prof. S. Hermans), surface and interface analysis and treatment (Prof. A. Delcorte), and electromagnetic characterization and modeling of (nano)composite materials (Prof. I. Huynen).

03/02/2014

isabelle.huynen@uclouvain.be