Here, we aim to integrate advanced piezo-electric materials for fast and low power modulation.

In the project we will fabricate SiN integrated photonics with low-power modulation utilizing the high piezo-electronic coefficient of materials. New processing routes will be developed to integrate these materials with SiN waveguides.

We are looking for a PhD candidate to work on Ultra-low power phase modulator in silicon nitride. You will develop, optimise and apply nanofabrication techniques and thin film technologies to study modulation in silicon nitride devices. This work will be done in the UT’s Nanolab, using state of the art fabrication and analysis techniques.

Your home base will be within the Inorganic Materials Science group (IMS) chair [https://www.utwente.nl/en/tnw/ims/] in the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Twente.

Your supervisor will be Prof. Guus Rijnders (IMS). We work closely together with our colleagues in the integrated photonics program.

We hope to fill this position in 2024.

We are looking for PhD candidate with;

• An enthusiastic and highly motivated research attitude.
• A master’s degree in Materials Science with a background in integrated photonics fabrication, ferro/ piezo electric materials or related areas.
• You have a creative mindset and excellent analytical and communication skills.
• English writing and presentation skills.

• A full-time position for four years, with a qualifier in the first year.
• Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU).
• You will receive a gross monthly salary ranging from € 2.770,- (first year) to € 3.539,- (fourth year)
• There are excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme.
• A minimum of 232 leave hours in case of full-time employment based on a formal workweek of 38 hours. A full-time employment in practice means 40 hours a week, therefore resulting in 96 extra leave hours on an annual basis.
• Free access to sports facilities on campus.
• You will have a training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School of the University of Twente where you and your supervisors will determine a plan for a suitable education and supervision.

IMS is a research group devoted to thin film growth studies, (nano)structuring techniques, and properties of complex materials, in particular oxides. It includes materials with diverse properties, like ferroelectrics, ferromagnetics and multiferroics, piezo’s, high-K dielectrics, transparent conducting oxides, non-linear optical materials, ion conductors, superconducting and related materials, and anti-reflection coatings. Its research field is focussed on thin films with modified properties by doping or by artificial layered structures and superstructures. Applications are found in, e.g., nano-electronics and spintronics, optical systems, fuel and solar cells, fluidics, bio-nano sensors.