PhD Position in Photonic Nanostructures in the DYNAMO European project

The candidate will join the team led by Agustín Mihi within the EIC Pathfinder Open Program Dynamo. Mihi’s team is part of the Nanostructured Materials for Optoelectronics and Energy Harvesting (NANOPTO) group, which is devoted to materials for energy and photonic applications.

Photonic and plasmonic architectures hold great promise to improve the performance of many optoelectronic technologies through the ability to manipulate light at the nanoscale. However, these nanostructures are typically produced via cumbersome and costly lithographic processes. In our group, we work fabricate photonic nanostructures using a scalable and low-cost soft nanoimprinting technique compatible with emerging optoelectronic devices. Our approach is compatible with a wide variety of materials such as biopolymers and colloids leading to a new generation of unconventional photonic architectures.

Main tasks of the candidate

To develop the project, the candidate will learn how to use a large variety of techniques and methodologies. The main tasks that will be carried out within the project include:

• Fabrication and optimization of different nanostructures exhibiting photonic and phononic properties
• Design and building optical set ups for the optical characterization of the nanostructures
• Fundamental study/characterization of materials and devices using, e.g. advanced spectroscopy.
• Literature review and paper drafting
• Contributing to the group (e.g. taking care of the maintenance of a given piece of equipment, giving presentations at group meetings, helping new students, etc.)

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About the Nanostructured Materials for Optoelectronics and Energy Harvesting Group

The Nanostructured Materials for Optoelectronics and Energy Harvesting (NANOPTO ) research group focuses on producing and characterizing advanced semiconducting structures with the main objective of understanding their fundamental behavior in order to tailor and improve their functionalities and empower different applications in the areas of optoelectronics, energy-related, and sensing devices.

In particular, Dr. Mihi’s team focusses mainly on three research aspects: i) the investigation of the fundaments behind the enhanced light-matter interaction observed in devices that use wave optics components; ii) the development of fabrication routes for large area and low cost photonic and plasmonic structures using techniques similar to those employed in industry, so they could be easily incorporated in technologies such as roll to roll; and iii) the fabrication and characterization of prototype solar cells, photodetectors and sensors based in photonic architectures, demonstrating improved performance without deterioration of other figures of merit in the device.

Dr. Mihi’s research line relies on unconventional nanofabrication to produce photonic architectures with exciting optical properties easily incorporated into large area devices. They have the capabilities to design photonic nanostructures for each device type using current numerical simulation tools. They combine soft nanolithography, transfer printing and industry compatible fabrication approaches to integrate the architectures as part of the optoelectronic devices. Finally, they characterize optically and electrically the enhanced prototypes employing state of the art spectroscopic equipment. 

We value a diverse and inclusive work environment where all team members have excellent opportunities for learning and contributing.