Photonics is widely regarded as the key enabling technology of the 21st century and its application and use in many scientific and industrial fields is accelerated though Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), which combine many optical components into a miniaturized chip format. Similar to electronic ICs, PICs are revolutionizing areas such as healthcare, communication and sensing and have the potential to be disruptive to the whole society. These technologies are receiving major investments through the PhotonDelta National Growth Fund program, with multiple new positions in integrated photonics.
https://www.tue.nl/en/storage/electrical-engineering/faculteit/news-and-events/news-overview/22-04-2022-photonics-sector-eindhoven-gets-major-boost-with-11-billion-euro-investment/ This is a large program involving the leading industry, research institutes and universities in the Netherlands.
About the positionIn recent years, the fast developments in the automotive industry towards self-driving cars have motivated a strong interest on light detection and ranging (LiDAR), which is the cornerstone technology for monitoring moving objects with high spatial resolution. These new research positions focus on fully solid-state solutions for miniaturization, performance, and wide deployment. Examples of previous work can be seen in the EU-funded NewControl project (
https://www.newcontrol-project.eu/videos), in which we achieved significant progress in InP-based PICs for LiDAR technologies, including
optical phased arrays,
FMCW tunable lasers, and
high-density photonic integration.
The position (either at PhD or Postdoc level) will identify circuit and control plane architectures for the forming and scanning of well-defined free space beams. Research questions will centre on methods and barriers for operating and scaling beyond hundreds of phase array emitters in the same integrated circuit. The optical phase arrays include both gain and phase control. Target specifications for field-of-view, angular resolution (below 0.1°), and optical power in the main beam for beyond 100 meter ranging are anticipated, and research challenges will focus primarily on aspects of control plane circuit integration, heat management and integration with module assembly methods.
The work will comprise optical phase array design based on circuit-level simulations, circuit layout, device design for proposing more efficient integrated amplifiers, and chip characterization in the optical laboratories. Internal collaborations are expected with other team members, as well as external collaborations for chip manufacturing and assembly.
EnvironmentThe position is in the Photonic Integration Research Group,
www.tue.nl/phi which is a part of the Eindhoven Hendrik Casimir Institute (EHCI)
www.tue.nl/ehci. Our strong supporting infrastructure of laboratories, clean room infrastructure
www.tue.nl/nanolab and technology know-how allows you to focus on your research and generate new opportunities for collaboration and growth. We believe we can only be world class if our researchers are doing well and feeling good.
The Eindhoven Brainport region, where we are located, is recognized as one of the most important regions in Europe for high-tech developments by the EU. Regional focus on specific technologies creates specific ecosystems to cooperate and commercialize technologies such as integrated photonics, high-tech systems and quantum technology.
We believe that professional development comes hand-in-hand with personal development. Therefore, you will also have access to high-quality training programs on general skills and topics related to research and valorization.