The Complex Photonic System (COPS) chair at the University of Twente is part of the FFSO project. The mission of COPS is to perform advanced research on propagation and emission of light in complex nanophotonic metamaterials, investigating new physical concepts and developing state-of-the-art techniques. This involves scattering experiments, nanophotonic crystals, Bose-Einstein condensates, and photonic circuits.
Group leaders
Willem L. Vos
Willem Vos obtained a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Amsterdam with highest honors (cum laude) for his thesis “Phase behavior of simple systems at high pressure”. He held a prestigious Fellowship at the Geophysical Laboratory (Carnegie Institution for Science, USA) where he discovered a novel class of “van der Waals compounds” at very high pressure. He studied photonic crystal and colloid physics. His team developed “inverse opal” photonic crystals; their Science paper inspired many groups (>2100 citations (Google)).
Currently he is professor in Complex Photonic Systems (COPS), University of Twente. His team demonstrated the first control of spontaneous emission of light with a 3D photonic band gap. Vos is a Fellow of the APS and OSA, recipient of the Snellius medal and of the Descartes-Huygens prize (French Academy of Sciences). His papers are on average cited >45x and his students have become faculty members at leading institutes, or pursue careers in industry and non-profit organizations.
Pepijn W.H. Pinkse
Pepijn Pinkse (1970) was trained as a physicist at the University of Leiden. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1997 for his thesis on (quantum) optical studies of spin-polarized atomic hydrogen at extremely low temperatures. Presently he is combining ideas from quantum optics with random-scattering media, multimode fibers, and complex integrated photonic circuits.
Ad Lagendijk
AL obtained his Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). At present AL is professor of physics at the University of Twente (UT). Before he has worked as a (distinguished) University Professor at the UvA and as group leader at the FOM Institute AMOLF.
In the field of propagation of light in disordered media (experiment and theory) AL is a pioneer and world leader. This field has grown enormously gained importance due to its highly multidisciplinary character. He has supervised 40+ theses.
I.M. Vellekoop
Ivo Vellekoop and his team work on a new approach to microscopy that allows researchers to look right through non-transparent layers of tissue. In order to achieve this, they use wavefront shaping, a technique developed in 2007 at the University of Twent. They work together closely with neuroscientists to make sure their microscopes are optimal for the life sciences.
Ph.D. students
Ozan Akdemir (graduated 2023)
Member since March 2019. He is investigating the breakdown of widely used approximations of the transport theory, both from the experimental and theoretical points of view.
Alfredo Rates (graduated 2023)
Member since November 2019. He is currently working on experimental measurement of light extinction in complex media. More info here.
Manashee Adhikary (graduated 2021)
Manashee Adhikary has obtained her PhD in 2021 in the COPS chair (promotor Willem Vos) for the PhD thesis “Controlled light propagation in random, periodic, and superperiodic silicon nanophotonic materials“, funded by the NWO-TTW Perspectief program “Free-form Scattering Optics”, in collaboration with the TUE and TUD, and with ASML, Signify, Lumileds, TNO, Demcon, and Schott.
Research technician
Melissa J. Goodwin
Melissa completed her Ph.D. in all things lactam at Durham University in 2017 before coming to the University of Twente as a post-doc in the groups of Molecular NanoFabrication and Biomolecular NanoTechnology. She is now working at COPS as a research teMelissa completed her PhD in all things lactam at Durham University in 2017 before coming to the University of Twente as a post-doc in the Molecular NanoFabrication and Biomolecular NanoTechnology chairs (Profs. Jurriaan Huskens and Jeroen Cornelissen). She is now working at COPS as a research technician notably on the nanofabrication of 3D photonic band gap crystals and superlattices.
For more information visit https://www.nano-cops.com/