PhD Position Ultrafast Photoacoustic Imaging

Generate ultrasound with light, and use it to visualize properties of microscopic objects.

Ultrafast photoacoustics is a process in which we use extremely short laser pulses to heat a material, giving rise to a rapid expansion that results in the generation of high-frequency ultrasound waves. We have developed methods to detect such ultrasound waves using light as well, enabling optical microscopy with ultrasound as a contrast agent.

In this project, you will build a microscope based on this photoacoustics concept. Working as part of a small team of researchers, you will design and develop the imaging system, and combine it with the ultrafast photoacoustics system available in the group. In addition to optics and microscopy, the experiments involve femtosecond lasers, electronic synchronization systems, and sensitive data acquisition methods such as lock-in detection. You will apply this novel microscope to study the mechanical properties of microscopic objects, such as semiconductor devices and biological cells. Data analysis and interpretation of the measured signals to transform them into 3D images will be another important challenge. As the propagation of sound depends on material properties such as density and stiffness, this microscope will give you a unique capability to visualize local material properties inside complex microstructures.

You will be part of the Optics for Nanoscale Metrology team, in the Optics cluster of the department of Imaging Physics at TU Delft. In this team, consisting of several PhD students, postdocs and undergraduates, we focus on developing new concepts for 3D imaging of nanostructures, using light.