Advanced Simulation of Semiconductor Quantum Heterostructure Devices
This grant supports developing advanced simulations for semiconductor devices like infrared lasers, detectors, solar cells, and nanophotonic structures using custom and commercial software.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
NRC Research Associateship Programs has archived this opportunity.
Funder: NRC Research Associateship Programs
Due Dates: May 1, 2025 | August 1, 2025 | November 1, 2025 | February 1, 2026
Funding Amounts: Stipend approximately $99,200 per year plus $3,000 travel allowance; relocation assistance available for eligible awardees. Typical tenure 2-3 years.
Summary: Supports postdoctoral research focused on advanced simulation and modeling of semiconductor quantum heterostructure devices, including infrared lasers, detectors, solar cells, and nanophotonic structures.
Key Information: Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents; requires Ph.D. earned within last 5 years; applicants must contact Research Adviser prior to applying.
Description
This fellowship opportunity under the NRC Research Associateship Programs supports advanced research in the development and application of simulation tools for semiconductor quantum heterostructure devices. The research focuses on a broad range of semiconductor materials and devices, particularly those operating in the infrared spectrum.
Key device classes of interest include:
- Interband cascade and quantum cascade lasers for the mid-wave infrared
- Infrared nonlinear frequency combs based on high-Q microresonators
- Nanophotonic processes enabled by plasmon and phonon polariton modes in deeply subwavelength resonators
- Nanophotonic optical traps for ultracold atoms
Additional research areas include type-II superlattice photodetectors for mid- and long-wave infrared, solar cells, and thermophotovoltaic devices using narrow-gap semiconductors.
Novel material systems under investigation encompass arsenide, phosphide, and antimonide quantum heterostructures; HgCdTe and narrow-gap III-V infrared detector materials; and infrared diode laser structures.
The program provides access to in-house custom-built software for multi-band k·p, tight-binding, effective-bond orbital, and empirical pseudopotential band-structure calculations, as well as comprehensive modeling packages for interband cascade lasers, quantum cascade lasers, photodetectors, and solar cells. Researchers also have access to commercial multiphysics modeling software such as COMSOL and electromagnetic finite-difference time-domain software like Lumerical.
This opportunity is hosted at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC, within the Optical Sciences division.
