Master thesis: Stochastic thermodynamics of cooperative optical sensing

AMOLF; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 11,000 - 16,000; Full time

Job summary

AMOLF invites a Master’s student to contribute to a thesis project on the stochastic thermodynamics of cooperative optical sensing. You will experimentally and theoretically investigate coupled optical cavities, reading perturbations via light, while exploring nonlinear dynamical regimes and their sensing performance.

The internship is hosted at AMOLF, Amsterdam Science Park, under supervision from the Interacting Photons group.

Qualifications

• Internship must be part of your curriculum.
• Available for at least 5 months (longer preferred).

Responsibilities

• Conduct experiments with single and coupled tunable optical cavities.
• Perform simulations of stochastic nonlinear dynamical systems.
• Explore trade-offs between speed, energy efficiency, and precision in sensing.

Education

Master’s program in physics, chemistry, materials science, or related field

Job description

Master thesis project: Better together? Stochastic thermodynamics of cooperative optical sensing

Work Activities

Are two coupled optical cavities better than one for sensing? If so, how? And at what thermodynamic cost? In this project, you will answer these questions, experimentally and theoretically, by combining recent breakthroughs from our group at the crossroads of nanophotonics and statistical physics. You will perform experiments with single and coupled tunable optical cavities, allowing to easily, remotely, and swiftly, read out the presence of a perturbation using light. The perturbation will initially be a dielectric nanoparticle. If sufficiently large sensitivities are realized, we will consider a single absorbing molecule. The cavities will be driven by a monochromatic continuous wave laser which, at sufficiently high power, can elicit a nonlinear optical response of the cavity. You will explore how different nonlinear dynamical regimes can be exploited for sensing, and the influence of noise on the sensing performance of each regime. You will focus on understanding the fundamental trade-offs between speed, energy efficiency, and precision in sensing.

Qualifications

You are currently enrolled in a Master’s program in physics, chemistry, materials science, or a related field. You have a nationality of an EU-member state and/or you are a student at a university in the Netherlands. The internship has to be a mandatory part of your curriculum. We expect you to be available for at least 5 months, although longer is preferable.

Work environment

AMOLF is a part of NWO-I and initiate and performs leading fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials, in partnership with academia and industry. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park and currently employs about 140 researchers and 80 support employees. www.amolf.nl In the Interacting Photons group (https://amolf.nl/research-groups/interacting-photons), we search for new physics emerging from photon interactions. As a testbed for new ideas, we use optical microcavities with nonlinear materials inside. We are driven by fundamental physics questions relevant to improve the energy efficiency, speed, and precision of optical technologies such as sensors and novel computers. The two projects we offer are at the frontier of nanophotonics, statistical physics, and condensed matter. Both projects involve experiments and computer simulations of stochastic nonlinear dynamical systems, with a balance to be determined by your interests and skills. For both experiments and simulations, you will learn all the necessary methods & techniques in our group, and a PhD student or postdoc will be your daily supervisor.

Working conditions

At the start of the traineeship your trainee plan will be set out, in consultation with your AMOLF supervisor. AMOLF Energy Research Academy (https://www.lmpv.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-2027-AMOLF-Energy-Research-Academy-program.pdf): AMOLF offers a special program for research internships in sustainable energy science. It is composed of a research project in one of AMOLF’s research groups, combined with a series of dedicated tutorials on fundamental aspects of the science behind sustainability technology. Admission to this Academy is only possible in combination with a research internship project at AMOLF.

More information?

For further information about the position, please contact prof. dr. Said Rodriguez (https://amolf.nl/people/said-rodriguez). or dr. Tom Veeken (https://amolf.nl/people/tom-veeken).

Diversity code

AMOLF is highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability. AMOLF has won the NNV Diversity Award 2022, which is awarded every two years by the Netherlands Physical Society for demonstrating the most successful implementation of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

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