Research Associate Full-time NEW

The role

Are you a photonics researcher who wants to build the photonic foundation of next-generation space telescopes? You will lead the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) sub-system of TESERACT (Twin Earth SEnsoR Astrophotonic CubeSat), a 6U mission demonstrating chip-scale spectroscopy in space and de-risking astrophotonic technologies for future flagship observatories, including the Habitable Worlds Telescope. Targeting a SpaceX rideshare in the early 2030s, TESERACT will observe targets such as Venus, Mars, Jupiter, the Moon, Saturn and Titan.

The long-term objective is a multi-object spectral characterization instrument for biosignature detection on Earth-like exoplanets, with applications in Earth observation. The work shifts from bulk optics to chip-scale photonic processing, improving size, weight, power, cost, stability, and scalability while maintaining high resolution.

Key technical areas: active spectral filtering; high-efficiency spectral tuning; spatial/spectral demultiplexing via microlens integration; low-power tunable circuit design; and low-loss silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) components for visible and near-infrared. The role uses NRC’s internal foundry and Applied Nanotools, with potential extension to external foundries (LioniX, AMF, IMEC, AIM). You will collaborate with NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, and Queen’s University Belfast, with travel to Victoria, BC and the UK.

Duties:

• Design, simulate (FDTD: Lumerical, Tidy3D, OptiFDTD), and lay out PICs (gdspy, Nazca, gdsfactory, Luceda, KLayout) for tape-out.
• Develop PIC architectures and components for multiplexed spectral processing in silicon nitride devices in the visible/near-infrared.
• Develop and support internal fabrication of low-loss silicon nitride devices for visible/near-infrared.
• Characterize PICs optically and support packaging and fiber-optic coupling.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and external partners; publish, present, and contribute to patents, reports, and proposals.