This CD Laboratory researches structured materials and surfaces as powerful and versatile platforms for sensor and measurement applications. The aim is to develop applications such as nanoscale imaging, integrated circuits, sensor technology and optically active surfaces.

The aim is to develop basic knowledge on the basis of which artificially structured materials, so-called metasurfaces, can be developed, i.e. thin layers of material that are moulded into complex textures. The properties of such artificial surfaces can be customised in their functionality depending on the chosen shape, size and geometry of their building blocks. Metasurfaces can interact with electromagnetic fields and selectively deflect or manipulate beams. They therefore enable sensor and measurement applications.

Electromagnetic fields can also be moulded. The intensity and other field parameters such as polarisation, angular momentum and phase can have a spatially varying, three-dimensional shape and structure and thus appear as "structured light". Structured light beams enable properties and applications such as diffraction-free propagation, single-molecule spectroscopy, focussing at the nanoscale and even particle acceleration. Initial experiments have shown that these spatial degrees of freedom are of paramount importance in many areas of optics research, from imaging and metrology to sensing and communication. However, the full potential of structured electromagnetic fields has not yet been realised.

This CD Laboratory will bring together these two fields of research - structured matter and structured light - to create an unprecedented level of control. Possible applications include nanoscale imaging, integrated circuit development, sensor technology and optically active metamaterial surfaces.