Two PhD candidates in integrated photonics with disordered materials for classical and quantum devices in Zürich

The Optical Nanomaterial Laboratory at the Physics Department of ETH Zurich is looking for Two PhD candidates in integrated photonics with disordered materials for classical and quantum devices.

The preferred starting date is between September 2023 and February 2024. 

Nonlinear materials used in telecommunication, laser and quantum applications are typically bulk metal-oxides single crystals. With this project, we want to establish a new family of nonlinear materials based on polycrystalline bottom-up assemblies to produce thin films and nano- to microstructures that can become agile photonic integrated chips (PIC) for classical and quantum devices.

These two PhD projects aim to realize bottom-up polycrystalline nonlinear assemblies of metal-oxides for PICs, which in fabrication complexity and functionalities will outperform devices constructed from bulk crystals or top-down thin films. Different kinds of bottom-up wet chemistry of metal-oxide nanocrystals will be explored starting from barium titanate and lithium niobate materials that are transparent from ultraviolet to mid-infrared, strongly nonlinear and electro-optic.

We will develop photonic assemblies made of nanocrystals or sol-gel chemistry to reach refractive indices and electro-optic strength comparable to bulk crystals. Such ductile materials will be then soft nanoimprinted with reusable large surface area polymer molds for structuring the PICs without the etching complexity of metal-oxides. The counter-intuitive perception that nonlinear optical effects are limited in random assemblies of nanocrystals gives rise to puzzling questions that will be investigated. Can those assemblies be used as a testbed to demonstrate strong light confinement and efficient frequency conversion without phase matching? Is there a method to control the orientation of the crystals during the fabrication and to design entangled photon sources? Can we build scalable and efficient PICs for classical and quantum applications?

• You should be creative, well-organized, and highly motivated to work in a photonic laboratory with emphasis either on material assembly, nanofabrication and characterization of PICs or on the fundamental study of multiple scattering in disordered materials for integrated devices.
• You should have a bachelor and master’s degree in physics, electrical/quantum engineering, optics, material sciences, or related fields and be interested in working in an interdisciplinary environment at the interface of nanotechnology, photonics, physics, material and quantum sciences.

ETH Zurich is a family-friendly employer with excellent working conditions. You can look forward to an exciting working environment, cultural diversity and attractive offers and benefits.