This project area can be made suitable for a 1-year MSc in Physics or 3-year PhD in physics. The project does not currently have funding attached, students must be able to fund the fees and their living costs by applying for a suitable scholarship, see https://www.kent.ac.uk/scholarships/postgraduate, or through some another source of funds. Current information on fees is available here.
Microfluidics technologies are opening up new opportunities for rapid analysis and diagnosis in a range of fields, shrinking complex laboratory procedures down onto compact, portable chips . These chips contain tiny channels which allow fluids can be transported, mixed, separated and otherwise manipulated in a controlled way. Optical techniques can be used to read-out information from the chips, for example imaging cells in flow.
In this project, the student will contribute towards a project on developing miniaturised holographic microscopes suitable for analysis and read-out of microfluidic chips. Holographic microscopy allows information from an entire volume to be captured in a single exposure of a camera, making it suitable for imaging cells flowing at high speed. It also allows recovery of phase information, providing contrast and thickness measurements from transluscent objects. We have recently demonstrated a concept for a fibre-based holographic microscope which we would now like to develop further.
The student will take on one aspect of this project, depending on their skills and experience. This may involve work in the optics lab, developing and testing the microscopes, or computational work for high speed image reconstruction and processing. It will therefore potentially suit applicants from a range of background in science and engineering.
There is no deadline for the project – applicants will be assessed on a rolling basis – although please note any separate deadlines for scholarships or funding. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Michael Hughes (m.r.hughes@kent.ac.uk) for informal discussion before applying.
More Information
MSc/PhD Study in the Applied Optics Group