We welcome applications from prospective students and researchers of all backgrounds, and particularly from those who are under-represented in photonics.
Please contact Prof. Derryck Reid if you are interested in joining the group as a visiting researcher or as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow.
The Ultrafast Optics Group at Heriot-Watt University has available a fully-funded PhD position in the development of novel diode-pumped infrared laser sources, ideal platforms for free-space telecommunications and vibrational spectroscopy.
Selection will be based on academic excellence and research potential, and all short-listed applicants will be interviewed (in person or by Teams).
The PhD studentship is for 3.5 years, with an annual stipend of at least £18,622 and with tuition fees paid.
We encourage information enquiries from potential applicants by email to the project supervisors Prof. Derryck Reid (D.T.Reid@hw.ac.uk) and Dr. Richard McCracken (R.A.McCracken@hw.ac.uk).
Recent advances at Heriot-Watt have led to the development of compact 3-element Kerr-lens-modelocked Ti:sapphire lasers operating at 800 nm [1]. This project will develop this technology and also shift it to the longer wavelengths in the near-infrared (1560 nm) using Er/Yb:glass and mid-infrared (2400 nm) using Cr:ZnSe, creating ultra-compact high-power GHz systems bonded to a single substrate. Challenges remain in achieving femtosecond operation at these high repetition frequencies, and in mitigating thermal loading in the bonded platforms. Frequency comb operation requires wavelength conversion in novel tapered fibres which will be designed using pulse propagation simulations, and will allow monitoring of environmental pollutants like CH4, CO and CO2 in the 1.5 - 3.5 micron band [2]. This PhD will address these experimental and simulation challenges, and the PhD student will help steer the direction of research as the project progresses.
We are now looking for a talented individual to join us at this exciting time. A suitable applicant will have a strong undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a physics or engineering course and be strongly motivated with the drive required to pursue three to four years of intensive experimental work supported by experiment. The project will require both individual and group work and a successful candidate must be capable of operating effectively in both environments. Any candidate must have a good grounding in the theories of lasers and optics, and some experience of laboratory work is expected. Experience of computer programming in Matlab would be highly advantageous but knowledge of other programming languages is relevant. A relevant undergraduate project would assist in selection of a candidate.
Heriot-Watt’s Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences (IPaQS) is a thriving environment for PhD research, with around 160 academics, postdocs, PhD and EngD students working full–time in the general photonics field. Heriot-Watt is based in a modern environment on the outskirts of Edinburgh, with excellent transport links to the centre of one of Europe’s most exciting cities.
This vacancy is open to suitably qualified individuals who are nationals of the UK or EU countries.
[1] Ostapenko et al, “Three-element self-starting Kerr-lens-modelocked 1-GHz Ti:sapphire oscillator pumped by a single laser diode” https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.472533
[2] Johnson et al, “High resolution ZrF4-fiber-delivered multi-species infrared spectroscopy” https://doi.org/10.1364/OSAC.412207
Interested candidates can contact Prof. Derryck Reid to arrange an informal call to discuss the project in more detail.
Formal applications must be made through the Heriot-Watt on-line application system.
High-resolution spectroscopy is vital to optical astronomy, and for decades, astronomers have used atomic emissions from hollow-cathode lamps to calibrate the spectrographs in optical telescopes. The limitations of such light sources mean that the community is now turning to astrocombs, which provide a sequence of ultra-narrow, drift-free, regularly spaced optical frequencies on a selectable multi-GHz grid. Uniquely, astrocombs must exhibit broad spectral coverage and wide inter-mode spacings, a technically demanding requirement that has limited the number of on-sky installations
In this context, Heriot-Watt's Ultrafast Optics Group is seeking to recruit a full-time post-doctoral researcher from 1 November 2024 on a 36-month contract at Grade 7 to work on an STFC-funded project developing new concepts in astrocomb technologies and calibration. Based at Heriot-Watt's Edinburgh Campus, in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, the Ultrafast Optics Group is a diverse, multi-national research team developing ultrafast laser sources for spectroscopy, metrology, and astrophotonics.
Please submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) Full CV
Applications can be submitted until midnight on the 19th February 2024.
For more details, visit the official vacancy site.
Astronomers use high resolution spectrographs to record the pattern of colours received from distant objects, but the wavelength axes of these instruments can shift slightly over time, and so must be regularly calibrated with an external reference light source to ensure consistency between observations. The emerging light sources of choice are astrocombs, a laser technology giving a sequence of ultra-narrow, drift-free, regularly spaced optical frequencies on a selectable grid spacing of 5-50 GHz. When referenced to GPS time, astrocombs provide atomically traceable optical frequencies with near-Hz-level precision. Current astrocombs are complex and expensive, and their limited reliability requires regular maintenance. Work in Heriot-Watt's Ultrafast Optics Group seeks to address these issues by developing a new, simple and robust astrocomb platform based on diode-pumped Ti:sapphire laser. We are seeking to recruit a full-time post-doctoral researcher from 1 May 2024 on a 24-month contract at Grade 7 to work on an STFC-funded project to develop such lasers.
Based at Heriot-Watt's Edinburgh Campus, in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, the Ultrafast Optics Group is a diverse, multi-national research team developing ultrafast laser sources for spectroscopy, metrology, and astrophotonics.
Please submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) Full CV
Applications can be submitted until midnight on the 19th February 2024.
For more details, visit the official vacancy site.