PhD Positions: Boron Containing Semiconductors for Optoelectronic Devices

PP-09 PhD Positions: Boron Containing Semiconductors for Optoelectronic Devices

Contract: Full Time/Fixed Term

The III-Materials and Devices, and Photonics Theory Groups at Tyndall National Institute have recently attracted major funding to understand and develop semiconductor optoelectronic devices using III-nitride semiconductors with boron containing alloys.  This work requires detailed theoretical and experimental understanding of the fundamental properties of the material and their consequences for optoelectronic devices.  A key element of this project is the close collaboration between theory and experiment to develop this unusual and challenging materials system.

As part of this award, Tyndall and University College Cork have a three fully funded open PhD positions available focusing on different programme aspects. Both groups are well-established with significant teams, and who interact with others as part of a vibrant multi-investigator activity covering infrared to ultraviolet optoelectronic devices.

Key Responsibilities and research objectives

The responsibilities of the three PhD studentships is as follows:

PhD1: Semiconductor growth, characterisation of B containing III-N materials.

The preparation of B-containing alloys is complex due to the potential for crystal phase changes, as well as limitations on the incorporation and spontaneous decomposition. However, in thin layers such effects can potentially be circumvented.  The research activities will involve optimizing the growth conditions using metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy to obtain high quality material, and understand the limitations in boron incorporation, layer thickness. Layers will be examined by a range of techniques to determine their structural properties in particular.

PhD2: Optical (Luminescent) characterisation, device fabrication and test of B-containing LEDs.

A key aim of the project is to understand the optical properties of device active regions (for LEDs). This will involve the characterization of boron containing quantum structures by spectroscopy. Subsequently activity will take optimized active regions and fabricate LEDs using the extensive cleanroom facilities at Tyndall.  These devices will then be tested to fully understand their behaviour and cross-correlating the obtained results with theoretical efforts on carrier transport in this material.

PhD3: Theoretical understanding of B-containing alloy materials and heterostructures.

To ultimately guide the design of boron containing optoelectronic devices, the theoretical understanding is a key element of the project. To achieve this, a blend of theoretical models will be employed. This includes developing new theoretical frameworks, which are required to deal with this unusual alloy system. Methods applied and developed will range from density functional theory over to semi-empirical tight binding models up to modified continuum approaches, including k.p and drift-diffusion.

Other responsibilities

  • Actively engage and collaborate with internal team members (theoretical and experimental) and external collaborators on the project to ensure overall success.
  • Participate in Education and Public Engagement activities.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the Tyndall Quality Management system.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the required Health and Safety standards.

Essential Criteria

  • First or upper second-class honors degree in Physics, Materials Science, Electronic Engineering, or similar with educational experience of Semiconductor Materials and/or Devices.

Desirable Criteria

  • Master’s degree in photonics or electronics showing first class achievements
  • Strong interpersonal skills and team working ability
  • Ability to critically evaluate the obtained results and present their implications to others.
  • Good knowledge of semiconductor crystallography (PhD1)
  • Good knowledge of semiconductor optoelectronics and device physics (Ph2)
  • Good knowledge of electronic structure theory (PhD3)

The fully-funded PhD position includes a stipend of €18,500/year for up to four years or graduation (whatever comes first) and full coverage of academic fees/tuition (approx. €5,500/year) in addition to extensive training opportunities.

Informal inquiries should be sent to either:

PhD1 & 2: Prof. Peter Parbrook (p.parbrook@ucc.ie)

PhD3: Dr Stefan Schulz (stefan.schulz@tyndall.ie)

Application Instructions

Step 1 – Click here to download and complete the Application form and indicate the Job Reference PP-09

Step 2 – Return the completed Application form, together with your CV and motivation letter to careers@tyndall.ie.

Postgraduate applicants whose first language is not English must provide evidence of English language proficiency as per UCC regulations (https://www.ucc.ie/en/study/comparison/english/postgraduate/). Certificates should be valid (usually less than 2 years old) and should be uploaded with their application. In special circumstances the panel may consider a prior degree in English (e.g. Master thesis written in English) as evidence of English language proficiency.

Please note that Garda vetting and/or an international police clearance check may form part of the selection process.

The University, at its discretion, may undertake to make an additional appointment(s) from this competition following the conclusion of the process.

At this time, Tyndall National Institute does not require the assistance of recruitment agencies.

Tyndall National Institute at University College, Cork is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Post doctoral Researcher-High speed components & Photonic Integrated Circuits

FP-43 Post doctoral Researcher: High Speed Components and Photonic Integrated Circuits for New Generation of Communication System

Contract: Full Time/Fixed Term

The Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork invite applications for a postdoctoral position aimed at the research and development of high speed components (modulators, lasers and detectors) and Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for a new generation of communication systems. The role will be focussed on investigating the design and fabrication the high speed components and the PICs. This includes designing of the high speed components and PICs, developing the fabrication processing as well as the characterizing of the fabricated PICs. The successful candidate will have completed PhD in a physics or engineering related discipline.

Responsibilities

  • The candidate will need to take a leadership role in processing and characterizing the high-speed electro-absorption modulators and take the role in developing InP and GaAs based photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
  • Participate in Education and Public Engagement activities, as required.
  • Contribute to the engagement on intellectual property activities in partnership with the Office of Technology Transfer.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the Tyndall Quality Management system.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the required Health and Safety standards.
  • Carry out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post.

Academic/Educational Requirements

  • The candidate should have a PhD in Engineering or Physics. They should have a proven track record in the design fabrication and characterisation of photonic devices.

Qualifications Desirable  

  • Experience in the fabrication of photonic devices and photonic integrated circuits
  • Experience in the design and characterisation of photonic integrated circuits
  • Experience in the modelling of different photonics device (lasers, modulators and detectors)
  • Experience in mask design and mask design software
  • Excellent hands-on lab skills in device testing, characterization, problem-solving, etc. and willing to work in the lab
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Strong leadership skills
  • Experience in the growth of III-V devices is also an asset.

For further information on this position, please contact Dr Frank Peters, Integrated Photonics Group, Tyndall National Institute (Email: frank.peters@tyndall.ie)

Appointment may be made on the IUA Researcher Scale €41,207- €47,477 per annum. Salary placement on appointment will be in accordance with public sector pay policy.

Application Instructions

Step 1 – Click here to download and complete the Application form and indicate the Job Reference FP-43

Step 2 – Return the completed Application form, together with your CV and motivation letter to careers@tyndall.ie.

Please ensure that your motivation letter, CV and application letter are submitted in pdf format.

Please note that Garda vetting and/or an international police clearance check may form part of the selection process.

The University, at its discretion, may undertake to make an additional appointment(s) from this competition following the conclusion of the process.

Please note that an appointment to posts advertised will be dependent on University approval, together with the terms of the employment control framework for the higher education sector.

At this time, Tyndall National Institute does not require the assistance of recruitment agencies.

Tyndall National Institute at University College, Cork is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Post doctoral Researcher-Optical Sensing Technologies for Green-House Gases

FG-14 Post doctoral Researcher on Optical Sensing Technologies for Green-House Gases

Contract: Full Time/Fixed Term

Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher with experience in optics, free-space optics, packaged semiconductor lasers. Tyndall is a leading deep-tech European research institute and is one of Ireland’s six National Labs, specialising in both electronics and photonics. Tyndall works with industry and academia from fundamental research to applications in its core areas of electronics, communications, energy, health, agri-tech & the environment. Tyndall is home to a research community of 600 people of 48 nationalities, including over 150 postgraduate research students. This project is part of a portfolio of projects with industrial partners at the SFI Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC), a leader in photonic integration technologies, packaging, and applications in communications and biophotonics.

We are seeking to create an experimental testbed and proof-of-concept demonstrator with our academic partner at Queen’s University Belfast to demonstrate the viability of integrating optical sources and detectors with a specialised gas cell unit for sensing. This is a very collaborative project, requiring multi-disciplinary skills, travel, attention to detail and ability to work within short deadlines.

This post is primarily funded for 16 months from November 2022 to February 2024.

Role Summary

HIGH-GREEN is a project led by Dr Fatima Gunning at Tyndall and Dr Hamza Shakil at QUB, which aims combine optical technologies such as lasers, detectors, comb generators. It is expected that the successful candidate will create and develop on a portable optical testbed to enable light coupling and detection with the gas cell unit developed in QUB. Although some training is provided, it is expected that the successful candidate will have prior experience in optical experimental labs, can work independently, meeting the project outcomes, and work collaborative with the diverse team of researchers within Tyndall, QUB and with our commercial and academic partners.

This post will enable you to grow your independence skills, leadership and technical skills in optical sensing and spectroscopy.

The successful candidate will

  • Work in partnership with our academic collaborator;
  • Apply skills in other areas of optical communications;
  • Work as part of a multidisciplinary team, learning from different skill sets;
  • Be encouraged to attend further training events, aligned with a career training plan;
  • Seek avenues for publication and dissemination (pending approval of all partners);
  • Travel between partner organisations for joint experiments.

Other responsibilities

  • Participate in Education and Public Engagement activities, as required.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the Tyndall Quality Management system and required Health & Safety standards.
  • Carry out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post.

Essential Criteria

  • PhD in Physics, Electronic Engineering or closed related fields, in particularly in Optical Sensing and/or Communications (optical fibre communications, optical free-space communications, optical sensing a spectroscopy, for example). Those without a PhD, but with significant experimental experience with free-space optics sensing, are also encouraged to apply, and evidence of such must be included.
  • Evidence of experimental abilities in an optical fibre communications lab, such as fibre splicing, spectral analysis, laser characterisation, free-space optical alignment, detection algorithms etc.
  • Evidence of basic understanding of optical spectroscopy techniques or optical gas sensing.
  • Evidence of simulations skills with VPI Transmission Maker or equivalent software.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills in a diverse environment.

Desirable Criteria

  • Complex optical communications simulations skills in Python/Matlab or other software.
  • Strong problem-solving skills and initiative with demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.
  • Demonstrated ability as a strong team player with high level of flexibility and the confidence to work independently.
  • Excellent organisational and planning skills.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be working primarily within Tyndall campus in Cork and with our academic partner in QUB, in person, full-time.

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to the Principal Investigator, Dr Fatima Gunning, at fatima.gunning@tyndall.ie, including title of post.

The appointment may be made on the Post-Doctoral Researchers scale €41,207- €47,477 p.a. Salary placement on appointment will be in accordance with the public sector pay policy.

Application Instructions

Step 1 – Click here to download and complete the application form and indicate Job Reference FG-14.

Step 2 – Return the completed application form, together with your CV and one-page cover letter specifically addressing how the candidate fulfils the essential criteria to careers@tyndall.ie.

Please ensure that your motivation letter, CV and application letter are submitted in pdf format.

Please note that Garda vetting and/or an international police clearance check may form part of the selection process.

The University, at its discretion, may undertake to make an additional appointment(s) from this competition following the conclusion of the process.

At this time, Tyndall National Institute does not require the assistance of recruitment agencies.

Tyndall National Institute at University College, Cork is an Equal Opportunities Employer

Principal Scientist- Heterogeneous Integration of III-V and Silicon Photonics

BC-64 Principal Scientist- Heterogeneous Integration of III-V and Silicon Photonics

Contract Type: Full Time/Fixed Term

As Tyndall’s Principal Scientist for Heterogeneous Integration of III-V and Silicon Photonics you will drive a cutting-edge research programme that will address some of the outstanding challenges in photonic-electronic integration in order to deliver new technology solutions for applications ranging from smart medical devices to advanced communication systems.

In particular, you will develop a new research team to advance one of the leading emerging technologies for large scale photonic-electronic integration, namely Micro-Transfer Printing (MTP). A key focus of the research will be the integration of III-V active devices (lasers, modulators, detectors etc.), together with active and passive silicon photonic ICs and associated electronic ICs using MTP. The research will be enabled by Tyndall’s advanced fabrication, characterisation and test facilities, which include all of the elements needed for the programme, including a dedicated MTP tool. Working initially under the guidance of the Head of the III-V Devices Group, you will be expected to lead a number of existing projects whilst also growing your own independent funding and research streams in order to develop a dedicated team of highly skilled research staff and PhD students.

You will join the Photonics Centre at Tyndall, a vibrant and expanding world-class research ecosystem comprising more than 150 researchers with activities that include photonic theory, III-V and III-Nitride material epitaxy, photonic integration, hybrid integration and packaging, microelectronics, biophotonics and communication systems. You will be expected to develop collaborations across the centre as well internationally through programmes such as the European Horizon 2020 funding framework and its successors. Tyndall also hosts the Science Foundation Ireland Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) a €30M initiative with 30 industry partners, including large multinationals and indigenous companies and start-ups. You will join IPIC as a funded investigator where, in addition to advancing photonic integration science and engineering, you will have the opportunity to lead a number of research collaborations with industry partners to advance the technology towards market deployment.

In order to achieve this, Tyndall seeks a highly motivated and dynamic individual with a proven track record of research excellence and achievement in photonic integration research, including a deep knowledge of III-V and/or silicon photonic device design and fabrication. You will have at least 5 years’ experience working in a leading academic institution or industrial research organisation and ideally a proven track-record of securing research contracts and defining and leading research programmes. The post offers a superb opportunity for an ambitious individual to establish a long-term research career in a world-leading research institute working on exciting, cutting-edge science at the interface between academia and industry.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the development of micro-transfer printing and associated technologies in Tyndall
  • Disseminate research achievements through publications in leading journals and at leading conferences
  • Develop a dynamic research group
  • Secure funding from national and European funding sources and industry
  • Develop novel intellectual property and support its commercial exploitation
  • Develop partnerships with Tyndall Principal Investigators and Senior Researchers
  • Contribute to postgraduate training and supervision
  • Contribute to the strategic planning and future success of the Tyndall Photonics Centre
  • Support education and public engagement activities
  • Comply with and enhance safety rules and laboratory protocols.
  • Participate in Education and Public Engagement activities, as required.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the Tyndall Quality Management system.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the required Health and Safety standards.
  • Carry out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post.

Essential Criteria

  • A PhD in a relevant subject area
  • Typically 5+ years’ experience working in a leading academic institution or industrial research organisation.
  • A proven track record of research excellence and achievement in photonics, including a deep knowledge of III-V and/or silicon photonic device design and fabrication
  • A track record of high quality research and innovation as evidenced by publications and presentations at leading conferences
  • Self-motivated, dynamic, interactive and collaborative
  • Capable of defining and implementing a broad-based, world-leading research programme spanning from fundamental science and engineering to applied projects with industry partners
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a team as well as taking a leadership role
  • Experience of student/staff supervision
  • Excellent communication skills

Desirable Criteria

  • Experience in proposal writing and a history of securing funding from internal company or external public funding sources
  • Demonstrated track record of IP generation

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Brian Corbett at brian.corbett@tyndall.ie

Appointment may be made on the Grade 7 Admin I Scale (B) €75,886 – €99,966 per annum.  Salary placement on appointment will be in accordance with public sector pay policy.

Closing date of applications is 19th February,  2023.

Application Instructions

Step 1- click here to download and complete the Application form and indicate Job Reference BC-64

Step 2 – return completed application form, together with your CV and motivation letter to careers@tyndall.ie

Please ensure that your motivation letter, CV and application letter are submitted in pdf format.

A full candidate information pack is available to download by clicking here.

Please note that Garda vetting and/or an international police clearance check may form part of the selection process.

The University, at its discretion, may undertake to make an additional appointment(s) from this competition following the conclusion of the process.

Please note that an appointment to posts advertised will be dependent on University approval, together with the terms of the employment control framework for the higher education sector.

At this time, Tyndall National Institute does not require the assistance of recruitment agencies.

Tyndall National Institute at University College, Cork is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

PhD position in Plasmonic nanocavities for quantum light emitters and sensing

IPIC is calling all candidates to apply for an exciting PhD position to work on a project in ‘Plasmonic nanocavities for quantum light emitters and sensing’.

 

This project will explore the possibility to fabricate nanoparticle-on-mirror (NPoM) plasmonic nanocavities on an optical fibre tip and study its applications in quantum light emitters and sensing. This project will involve both simulation on the E-field enhancement and hands-on fabrication of NPoM nanocavities and their integration with fibre tip.

This is a fully funded position. The PhD student will have opportunities to work within three research groups (Trinity College Dublin, Tyndall National Institute and University of Limerick) in Ireland, but the main base of the student will be at the University of Limerick.

Please contact ning.liu@ul.ie for more information.

Opportunity for a Postdoctoral Researcher in Photonics Packaging

The Photonics Packaging Group at the Tyndall Institute invites applications for an exciting position as a Postdoctoral Researcher. The position takes responsibility for optical design and packaging activities in the new pilot line funded under the Disruptive Technology innovation Fund (DTIF programme). A large part of the research will involve the design and development of advanced packaging processes for micro optic and fiber optic components. This will include design activities using software simulation tools such as Zemax and Lumerical and development of packaging processes using Tyndall’s packaging equipment. The position will also require the person to write technical reports about their research and to present their research to a variety of stakeholders, including the wider research community and key funding agencies such as Enterprise Ireland.

The project involves strong collaboration with industry partners to develop packaging processes that can be scaled to volume and used for a wide range of industry applications, such as optical communications, medical devices and sensing. Candidates who can demonstrate practical experience of working with photonic devices and optical components are preferred.

Key Responsibilities

  • Design of micro optical components using software tools such as Zemax and Lumerical.
  • Fiber and micro optical packaging of photonic devices in the packaging laboratory.
  • Testing of photonic devices to measure packaged device performance.
  • Preparation and presentation of technical reports.
  • Managing projects within an ISO controlled environment.
  • Participate in education and public engagement activities, as required.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the Tyndall Quality Management system.
  • Ensure all activities are compliant with the required Health and Safety standards.
  • Carry out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post.

Essential criteria

  • PhD in physics or engineering.
  • Experience in photonics.
  • Experience in optical design and testing.
  • Excellent communication and technical report writing skills.
  • Experience presenting your research to a technical audience.

Desirable criteria

  • Experience in the fabrication and packaging of photonic devices.
  • Experience in optical design (eg. Zemax) would be highly desirable.
  • Industry experience or working with industry would be highly desirable.

Appointment may be made on the IUA Scale for Post-Doctoral Researchers €38,630-€45,942 pa. Salary placement on appointment will be in accordance with public sector pay policy.

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Peter O’Brien at peter.obrien@tyndall.ie.

Application Instructions

Step 1 – Click here to download and complete the application form and indicate Job Reference POB-42.

Step 2 – Return the completed application form, together with your CV and motivation letter to careers@tyndall.ie.

Handwritten forms will not be accepted.

Please note that Garda vetting and/or an international police clearance check may form part of the selection process.

University College Cork, at its discretion, may undertake to make an additional appointment(s) from this competition following the conclusion of the process.

At this time, Tyndall National Institute does not require the assistance of recruitment agencies.

Tyndall National Institute at University College, Cork is an Equal Opportunities Employer

Researchers in Optical Design and Biophotonics

The Biophotonics Group at IPIC, led by Prof. Stefan Andersson-Engels, is looking for two motivated and highly driven researchers with passion for Optical Design.

Successful candidates will join recently secured industry projects with Rockley Photonics and Raydiant Oximetry partners.

The two vacancies relate to projects on an optical measurement of health parameters based on photon-time-of-flight measurements (Rockley Photonics) and fetal monitoring during labor based on pulse oximetry (Raydiant Oximetry).

The present roles are devoted mostly for the projects and working with an industry partner, but will be fully integrated in the biophotonics team at Tyndall.

Successful candidates are expected to be creative, self-motivated, and should help create an efficient and friendly atmosphere within the diverse Biophotonics team and beyond to all teams at IPIC and Tyndall. These positions will offer great opportunities for learning and to become internationally visible as the successful candidates will be part of building a new center for biophotonics with a potential to become a key player in the field.

PhD Studentship in Responsive Photonic Arrays

IPIC @ Tyndall National Institute

Background
Over the past decade there has been enormous interest in the development of mechanochromic photonics crystals as visual sensors. There are typically three ways to produce colour; pigmentation, emission or structural colour. Mechanchromic structures explit structural colour resulting from the interference of light. A general term of structues that can be used to manipulate colour in this way is photonic crystals. The reflected or transmitted colour depends on the materials and structure. The structures can be as simple of planar thin films or as complex as the features in the blue morpho butterfly wings or 3D opal crystals. Many structures are inspired by those occurring in nature. Mechanochromic structures use materials which swell in response to a stimulus (liquid, gas, chemical) or which can be stretched or compressed with a resulting changing in the observed colour. The extent of the extent of the colour change, the sensitivity to the stimulus and the response time are all critical parameters that must be considered depending on the specific application. Often the structures
fabricated to date are relatively simple, such as multi-planar layers or a grating on a surface, and the range of colour tuning is quite limited.

Innovation
The innovation in this project is that we will investigate structures that can be fabricated via direct laser writing using two photon polymerization.

Collaboration
This project is in collaboration with Prof. Larisa Florea in the School of Chemistry. As it is a collaborative project it will offer lots of opportunity for discussion with the material scientists so that we can understand and balance what is possible from a materials perspective with what is required from a photonics perspective to achieve the optimal sensor response. Our contribution to the project is in the structure design, materials characterization, optical characterization of the laser printed structures and simulation of experimental results to understand the material changes and how the sensors can be further optimized. The project is also in collaboration with Dr. Radislav Potyrailo, General Electric Research, USA.

Objectives and methodology
The objective of the objective of this project will be to develop solution based chemical sensors

For further details please see:

https://www.tcd.ie/Physics/study/prospective/postgraduate/

Tyndall, IPIC, MCCI & IERC Summer Internships 2022

IPIC @ Tyndall National Institute

**Applications closed**

This internship will allow you to work with renowned researchers at Tyndall National Institute, IPIC the SFI Centre for Photonics, MCCI and IERC.

Interns will be given access to world-class research environments, and also the opportunity to learn from award-winning scientists and researchers who are at the cutting edge of deep-tech research.

To support you during the programme and to give you a truly immersive experience, interns will be partnered up with a senior researcher that’s relevant to their chosen research area. They will receive a generous bursary while undertaking a 12-week research project complemented by a workshop series and learn about research commercialisation, communication and more.

The internship programme has been designed in a flexible manner for blended working that accommodates online remote learning as well as supervised lab access for each intern.

To be considered for an internship, students need to be enrolled as an undergraduate student in a Republic of Ireland based university or institute of technology from all STEM fields.

25 summer bursaries for the 2022 programme are available.

View the programme’s Data Protection Notice here.

Discover more about the research areas the programme will offer at the Open Evening event which will be announced soon.

Postdoc Researcher-High speed components & Photonic Integrated Circuits

IPIC @ Tyndall National Institute

The Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork invite applications for a postdoctoral position aimed at the research and development of high speed components (modulators, lasers and detectors) and Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for a new generation of communication systems.

https://www.tyndall.ie/fp-43-postdoctoral-researcher_-high-speed-components-and-photonic-integrated-cir