The Semiconductor Nanophotonics lab at the Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands) has an open PhD student position on nanophotonic lab-on-fiber sensing.

Background: Lab-on-fiber sensing

Optical fibers carry optical signals over large distances and are widely used for communications. They are also increasingly used for sensing, as they allow gathering information from environments which are far or hard to reach (from arteries to dikes). Fiber sensors are compact, minimally-invasive and potentially inexpensive. However, the applications have so far mostly be limited to temperature and pressure/strain sensing. By building a sensor on the tip of the fiber and properly functionalizing it, it is in principle possible to sense all physical, chemical and biological properties of the environment, turning the fiber into a powerful sensing instrument. This 'lab-on-fiber' technology has so far been hampered by the difficulty of realizing the sensors on the tiny fiber tips. Our group has recently demonstrated a method to fabricate sensors and photonic circuits on a semiconductor wafer and transfer them to a fiber tip. This allows harnessing the power of integrated photonics to build complex sensing structures on fiber tips and opens the way to a new generation of fiber sensors.

Project description

The selected candidate will perform applied research in integrated photonics and optical sensing. He/she will conceive, realize and characterize nanophotonic devices and circuits on fiber tips, and test their application in different sensing problems, including sensing of molecular biomarkers.

The project will be supervised by Prof. A. Fiore and co-supervised by Dr. P. Zijlstra at TU/e. A close collaboration is foreseen with the partners of a Dutch-Taiwanese consortium, including research visits to Taiwan. The PhD student will be integrated in a young, dynamic and highly collaborative team active in this area.

We welcome applications from candidates with a Master degree in physics or electrical engineering and with a background in optics or photonics. Candidates must show interest in experimental physics and demonstrate the drive and capacity to independently tackle different aspects of a problem while working in a team.

• A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university with the possibility to present your work at international conferences.
• A full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months.
• To develop your teaching skills, you will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• To support you during your PhD and to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will make a Training and Supervision plan and you will have free access to a personal development program for PhD students (PROOF program).
• A gross monthly salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Additionally, an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
• Should you come from abroad and comply with certain conditions, you can make use of the so-called '30% facility', which permits you not to pay tax on 30% of your salary.
• A broad package of fringe benefits, including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, and savings schemes.
• Family-friendly initiatives are in place, such as an international spouse program, and excellent on-campus children day care and sports facilities.