Internship: Synchronized Holographic Control for Super-Resolution Imaging

Join our research team in developing a new class of programmable-mask super-resolution lithography systems. You will develop software and optical control strategies for the generation and synchronization of computer-generated holograms (CGH), enabling the fabrication of nanometer-scale 2D, 2.5D, and 3D structures beyond the diffraction limit and paving the way for next-generation lithography and optical manufacturing. This technology has potential applications in semiconductor manufacturing, integrated photonics, and bioprinting.

Project overview

You will work with an advanced programmable-mask optical platform for computer-generated holography (CGH) based on phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs) and multiple laser sources.

Machine learning-based optimization is used to compute high-fidelity computer-generated holograms. The main engineering challenge is to calibrate and synchronize multiple SLMs while combining holograms generated by different laser wavelengths, maintaining precise spatial registration and deterministic timing throughout the imaging process.

Your role

You will contribute to the development of the free-space optical system, with a particular focus on the phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs), including their alignment, calibration, and hologram evaluation. You will develop strategies for synchronizing multiple SLMs and design, implement, and validate the software that controls hologram generation. Working closely with researchers in optics and computational imaging, you will:

• Develop software to load, sequence, and synchronously update multiple SLMs.
• Integrate ML-based hologram optimization into the experimental control software.
• Calibrate the spatial alignment, relative magnification, and optical distortion of reconstructed holograms.
• Characterize reconstruction quality by evaluating imaging performance and identifying practical limits in resolution, accuracy, and throughput.
• Document the software, calibration procedures, and experimental results.

Your profile

You are pursuing a degree in Applied Physics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Photonics, or a related field.

• Strong programming skills are essential. You should be comfortable developing scientific software in Python, with experience in C++ and/or MATLAB considered an advantage.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas is beneficial, but not required:
• Free-space optics, image processing, signal processing, or computational imaging.
• Fourier optics, computer-generated holography (CGH), or spatial light modulators (SLMs).
• Hardware interfaces, hardware triggering, or laboratory instrumentation.
• Numerical optimization and experimental characterization.

Above all, you are curious, enjoy solving practical engineering problems, and are motivated to work at the interface of software and experimental optics.

Expected outcomes

By the end of the internship, you will have developed a documented software framework for synchronized multi-SLM operation, together with validated calibration and timing procedures. Your final report will evaluate the system's imaging performance and recommend improvements to synchronization, reconstruction fidelity, and acquisition speed.

What you will gain

This internship offers hands-on experience in programmable photonics, computer-generated holography, synchronized instrumentation, and super-resolution imaging. You will work at the interface between software engineering and experimental optics, with direct responsibility for integrating numerical hologram optimization into a state-of-the-art optical platform.