PhD Student

Job description

Laser frequency combs are arguably the biggest advance in precision frequency synthesis in metrology since the invention of the laser. Nowadays, microcombs offer the prospect to reach a similar level of performance at the chip scale. This technology has a disruptive potential for a vast range of markets: optical interconnects, environmental sensing, quantum information processing, lidar and navigation systems.
What does it take for microcombs to be widely deployed? This overarching question is addressed within the context of the EU-funded Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Network (DN) “MicrocombSys”. The research in the network focuses on new technologies based on photonic integration and aims to advance the state of the art in this exciting field by addressing several new research directions, from heterogeneous integration to system-level applications.
Within this PhD research topic, you will establish several standardized photonics packaging building blocks for reaching the full potential of chip-scale microcombs. You will develop flip-chip bonding techniques of high-power laser sources on SiN integrated photonic circuits, stable optical fiber interfaces with edge couplers and thermal management solutions in standardized PIC package modules.
You will get the opportunity to:

• be supervised by an expert in the field;
• take charge of an exciting research project;
• research in close collaboration with partners within the Marie Curie European Training Network: https://www.microcombsys.eu;
• participate in innovative training modules, including a series of hands-on workshops that provide technical, transferable and presentation skills, international conferences, and outreach activities.
  
  

The MicrocombSys Doctoral Network team involves 9 partners and supports up to 12 PhD students. Marie Curie Fellows enjoy the benefits of full social security, competitive monthly living, mobility and family allowance.
The program provides an excellent opportunity for students to participate in network-wide training in both scientific and transferable skills at different locations throughout Europe with leading scientists in the field, including secondments to our industrial and academic partners.

We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which-after a positive evaluation, will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months.

Job profile

We are looking for motivated researchers with MSc degrees in Photonics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics or equivalent (early stage researcher) with excellent experimental and theoretical skills as well as good team spirit.

How to apply

Submit your application to prof. Geert Van Steenberge: Geert.VanSteenberge@ugent.be

Your application should include a letter, emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications and motivation to apply for this position, a detailed CV, publication list (if any), contact details of at least two referees, and academic transcripts of BSc and MSc grades.
Applicants must fully respect three eligibility criteria:

• Supported researchers must be Doctoral Candidates (DC), i.e., not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible.
• Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must undertake trans-national mobility (i.e., move from one country to another) when taking up the appointment. In particular, at the time of selection by the host organization, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.
• The candidates’ ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English should be sufficiently high for them to derive the full benefit from the network training.