Applications are invited for a funded postgraduate research studentship/scholarship with the Photonic Systems Group at Tyndall National Institute, Cork, Ireland.
Photonics is the science and technology of using light to obtain, convey and process information, and is one of the underpinning elements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Although photonics is relatively new compared to electronics, it is already established as one of the key technologies supporting today s worldwide telecommunications networks and the Internet. New bandwidth-hungry Internet applications are being introduced continuously, resulting in traffic growth rates of over 50% per annum. The significant impact of photonic ICT on the rate of growth of world economies is reflected by worldwide investment rates of over $100Bn. Increasingly, photonics is also being used in signal interconnection technology at much shorter length scales; for example, an important new application is interconnection within future powerful super-computers.
However, these tremendous growth rates also present very significant technical challenges. End users in homes and businesses increasingly demand higher bandwidth connections, reaching into the Gbit/s (billion bits per second) range, and these services must be provided at affordable cost. These high-speed connections will also result in very high concentrations of communications traffic in the core of the network well above 10 Tbit/s (10 trillion bits per second) in the national network of a medium-sized developed country and this requires radical new solutions to be developed. As well as economic challenges, the growth in bandwidth also places a heavy drain on the world s energy resources, with approximately 1.5% of the energy production capacity of a developed country expended currently on communication networks; it is imperative to constrain growth in this energy demand.
The Photonic Systems Group in the Tyndall National Institute has a broad-ranging research programme in leading-edge photonic systems designed to address these key problems, including: ultra high capacity optical signal generation and transmission, optical access networks, all-optical processing and switching and quantum encryption. The emphasis is on applications and system-level investigations, optimizing the overall technological impact on communication networks of the future. These activities involve developing a detailed physical understanding of specific semiconductor and fibre components, as well as an appreciation of telecommunications systems. Solutions are typically developed in collaboration with industrial partners, and the group enjoys much fruitful collaboration either directly with appropriate partners or via EU-funded collaborative projects.
Applications are invited for a funded postgraduate research studentship. The position will lead to a higher degree including Ph.D, and is available to start in mid 2009. The successful student will receive training in research methods and will work alongside experienced researchers on projects to develop advanced photonic systems. The laboratory facilities available for photonic systems research at the Tyndall National Institute are amongst the best in Europe.
The minimum academic qualification is a first or upper second class honours degree in physics, electrical engineering, or related relevant discipline. The successful candidate will be highly self-motivated, and keen to learn and contribute as integral members of a dynamic and growing research team. In this particular project, techniques to achieve ultra high capacities within the core network will be investigated for the viewpoint of the design of integrated receiver arrays. Here the key challenges are related to the overall capacity demands approaching the fundamental capacity limits of optical communication systems, coupled with the cost, reliability and performance of the network. The research in particular will focus on the development of receivers for a new transmission technology known as Coherent Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (Coherent WDM). In its simplest form, Coherent WDM and its counterpart from wireless, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, are essential technologies to extract the maximum capacity from a transmission medium. Within a long communication link, however, the traditional approaches are severely restricted by the distributed non-linear response of the optical fibre transmission medium."
For more information, please contact Andrew Ellis at andrew.ellis@tyndall.ie
To apply, please submit a CV to careers@tyndall.iequoting the reference number.
To apply for this post, complete the application form and forward with a detailed curriculum vitae and references to:
HR Department
Tyndall National Institute, Lee Maltings, Prospect Row, Cork, Ireland
Fax: +353-21-4904058
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