Job Descritpion
Job Availability
01/09/2025
Contract Duration
12 month
Job description
A one-year postdoctoral position is available at CEA Paris Saclay, within the PHOTOMIC project, funded by the ANR. This multidisciplinary project explores the use of photochromic materials for low-power, reconfigurable photonic synapses. These synapses will be designed to modulate the connection weights within a photonic artificial neural network. The primary objective of this postdoctoral position is the implementation of these photonic synapses, which will involve the fabrication of photoswitchable diffraction gratings. This will require evaluating the optical performance of various photochromic materials. Two potentially synergistic effects will be investigated: direct refractive index modulation via photoisomerization (using diarylethene derivatives) and surface relief formation through photoinduced mass transport (using azobenzene derivatives).
The postdoctoral fellow will be hosted at SPEC/LEPO (CEA-Saclay, Orme des Merisiers site), a research group with extensive expertise at the interface of organic materials and photophysics, nanophotonics and local probe microscopies. From previous work, different photochromic systems have already been selected, from commercially available systems to specifically synthetized compounds (studied in close collaboration with PPSM (ENS-Paris-Saclay)). An optical bench was also developed in order to enable the recording of holograms though photoinduced optical modulation together with testing their resulting diffraction properties. This postdoctoral position will involve close collaboration with C2N to design, implement, and optimize the photonic synapses and the neural optical network. Experiments will be conducted at both CEA and C2N facilities, working closely with another postdoctoral researcher. The ultimate goal is to create a model synapse demonstrating the ability to weight the connection between two optical neurons—a crucial first step towards photonic extreme learning.
Main responsabilities:
- Fabrication of diffraction gratings from numerical holograms,
- Characterization of their light diffraction or waveguiding properties,
- Design and implementation, of a model artificial optical synapse for interconnecting two optical neurons,
- Characterization and optimization of the synapse weighting properties.
Localization
Site
CEA SPEC, Orme des Merisiers
Candidates
Required Qualifications and Skills
The candidate will hold a PhD in optics / photophysics or chemical physics, with an interest in interdisciplinary work. A good knowledge / or previous experience in either of the following items would be appreciated:
- Physical optics, diffraction, optical instrumentation and microscopy,
- Photophysical and photochemical processes in organic dyes,
- Practical experience with organic dyes in solution, polymer matrices, and thin-film fabrication,
- Photoinduced patterning and associated structural characterizations (AFM),
- Strong communication skills to effectively collaborate within the multidisciplinary partnership of PHOTOMIC.
Language
English (Intermediate)
Formation requise
Doctorate in physics
Contact
for complimentary information and application:
Céline Fiorini-Debuisschert (celine.fiorini(at)cea.fr
Nicolas Fabre (nicolas.fabre(at)cea.fr
Applications (CV+motivation letter) will be received until mid-May, for the post-doc to start in September 2025