Junior Researcher for ERC Starting Grant for Lightsails

Job description

Junior Researcher will be leading one a multi-million euro project on ultra-thin photonic crystal sails for next-generation space travel -- the project is in collaboration with the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Limitless Space Institute. Our lab is currently working at the cutting edge of nanotechnology, nanophotonics, applied physics and space travel by developing ultra-light sails (i.e. Mirrors) which are unlike any material found in nature or made in science to date.

In 2016 Breakthrough Prize Foundation announced a $100 million initiative to realize microchip satellite for unmanned interstellar travel. By attaching these microchips to low-mass sails which are meters large and only nanometers thick, these satellites could be accelerated to ultra-fast speeds with lasers. This type of sail material would allow us to shorten times to Alpha Centauri, our nearest star, from 10,000 years to only 20 years - completely changing humanity's reach within the universe. These unique capbailities that novel sail materials could open, but it's also recognized by leading experts around the world that the largest challenge will be developing the lightsail. Why is that? Well, if one looks at the microchip, it need to be made smaller in x, y and z - which is in line with the conventional miniaturization we've been doing over the last half century. But the lightsails stand as a unique challenge because it's the only nanoscale components which needs to be expanded to meter scales. Our lab has been pioneering metamaterials with extreme aspect ratio putting us in a unique position to bring this technology within reach.

At the TU Delft, Netherlands, we can design and produce these suspended reflective structures at the centimeter-scale for the first time. EARS will push the limits of nanotechnology further with world-class experimental system. This system will allow us to allow us to overcome conventional obstacles in this nanotechnology and open a new regime of light-matter interaction. While optical levitation won the 2018 Nobel Prize for revolutionizing physics and engineering, it has so far been limited to the nanoscale objects. The lightsail materials we're proposing in EARS will allow us perform the 1st optical levitation microstructures that are 100,000x more massive than anything levitated with coherent light to date. Photonic crystals mirrors will make this possible, and will push the boundaries of material science, nanophotonic design and structural engineering.

Job requirements

Strongly Required:

• MSc in Optics, Physics, Engineering, or Material Science
• Experience with optical measurements

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Mechanical Engineering

From chip to ship. From machine to human being. From idea to solution. Driven by a deep-rooted desire to understand our environment and discover its underlying mechanisms, research and education at the ME faculty focusses on fundamental understanding, design, production including application and product improvement, materials, processes and (mechanical) systems.

ME is a dynamic and innovative faculty with high-tech lab facilities and international reach. It's a large faculty but also versatile, so we can often make unique connections by combining different disciplines. This is reflected in ME's outstanding, state-of-the-art education, which trains students to become responsible and socially engaged engineers and scientists. We translate our knowledge and insights into solutions to societal issues, contributing to a sustainable society and to the development of prosperity and well-being. That is what unites us in pioneering research, inspiring education and (inter)national cooperation.

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Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply no later than 5 October 2025 via the application button and upload the following documents:

• CV
• Motivational letter

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