Internship: Photonics Scientist (Master)

This master-level internship is part of Philips Hospital Patient Monitoring and focuses on developing and improving biosensors for monitoring vital functions in clinical environments. The project explores photonic integration for breath analysis, including carbon dioxide monitoring for patient monitoring applications such as capnography. Photonic integration may improve sensor performance, reliability, form factor, power consumption, and cost of optical gas sensing concepts.

The project builds on earlier work on photonic integration for a breath sensor based on absorption spectroscopy.

Capnography measures carbon dioxide in exhaled breath and is an important parameter in patient monitoring. A compact, robust, and manufacturable on-chip sensor concept could be valuable for future monitoring solutions. Several technical concept choices need to be assessed before moving toward detailed design, including the photonic sensing principle, optical in- and outcoupling, interaction between the photonic chip and the gas sample, and the suitability of different simulation tools for optimizing the concept.

The aim of the internship is to investigate which on-chip concept is most promising for capnography and to perform first simulations of the selected concept. The student will benchmark candidate technical approaches, evaluate suitable software tools for optical-chip design and gas–chip interaction, and perform simulations aligned with capnography requirements.

Your role

• Identify and simulate a best-fit on-chip photonic concept for capnography, considering optical performance, chip coupling, gas interaction, simulation feasibility, and relevance to CO₂ measurement in breath.

Research questions

1. Which on-chip photonic concepts are most suitable for CO₂-based capnography?
2. What are the key trade-offs between candidate concepts regarding optical coupling, interaction with gas, manufacturability, and expected sensitivity?
3. Which simulation software tools, or combination of tools, are most appropriate for chip design, optical coupling, and gas interaction?
4. Can the selected concept be simulated and optimized against first-order capnography requirements?

Scope

The project focuses on concept benchmarking, simulation-tool selection, and first simulations. Experimental realization, fabrication, and bench testing are outside the scope of this assignment.

You're the right fit if

• You are currently pursuing a Master degree in Physics or Photonics.
• You have good knowledge of optics, optical components, optical measurements, photonics, and/or quantum physics.
• Affinity for biosensing is a plus.
• You have expertise and proven background in Matlab programming.
• You are fluent in oral and written English.