Postdoctoral Research Associate (Hokmabadi)

Position Information

General Information

Position Number POST40 Working Title Postdoctoral Research Associate (Hokmabadi) Division Academic Affairs Department College of Engineering (Col) Work Unit Electrical & Computer Engineering Work Location EPIC and Grigg Vacancy Open To All Candidates Position Designation Post Doc Employment Type Temporary - Full-time Hours per week 40 Work Schedule Pay Rate $50,000-$54,000 Minimum Experience/Education

The Postdoctoral appointee must have recently (within the last eight years) been awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Sciences, Materials Science or equivalent doctorate in closely related discipline (e.g., Sc.D., M.D.)

Prior Cleanroom Experience: Extensive, proven hands-on experience working inside a class 100/1000 micro/nano-fabrication cleanroom facility. Deep expertise in lithography, E-beam evaporation, sputtering, and dry/wet etching is strictly required.

Optical Bench Competency: Demonstrated success in designing, constructing, and precision-aligning free-space optical bench components.

Theoretical Foundations: Robust prior experience with the numerical modeling and design of optical or electromagnetic wave structures.

Departmental Preferred Experience, Skills, Training/Education:

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct, prior hands-on experience handling and testing active semiconductor laser devices (e.g., microring lasers, VCSELs, laser arrays). Candidates with exceptional optical testing skills in passive systems who demonstrate a strong capability to learn active laser physics will also be fully considered.
• Experience with instrumentation automation and data acquisition tools (e.g., Python, MATLAB, or LabVIEW).

Duties and Responsibilities

A Postdoctoral Fellow (""postdoc"") is a professional apprenticeship designed to provide recent Ph.D. recipients with an opportunity to develop further the research skills acquired in their doctoral programs or to learn new research techniques, in preparation for an academic or research career. In the process of further developing their own research skills, it is expected that Postdoctoral Fellows will also play a significant role in the performance of research at the University and augment the role of graduate faculty in providing research instruction to graduate students. A Postdoctoral Fellow works under the supervision of a regular faculty member, who serves as a mentor to the Fellow, and it is expected that the faculty mentor will impart the realities, and variety, of scientific careers, and will encourage experiences outside the laboratory to broaden postdocs' aspirations. Within the confines of the particular research focus assigned by that faculty member, the Postdoctoral Fellow functions with a considerable degree of independence and has the freedom (and is expected) to publish the results of his or her research or scholarship during the period of appointment. Thus, the role of Postdoctoral Fellows is clearly differentiated from full-time technical employees.

Postdoc appointments are characterized by all of the following conditions:

• the appointee was recently (within the last eight years) awarded a Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate (e.g., Sc.D., M.D.);
• the appointment is temporary, for up to one year at a time, with renewal possible;
• the total appointment is limited to five years, including time spent in previous postdoctoral appointments at other institutions;
• the appointment involves substantially full-time research or scholarship;
• the appointment is viewed as preparatory for a full-time academic and/or research career;
• the appointee works under the supervision of a faculty member; and
• the appointee has the freedom and is expected to publish the results of his or her research or scholarship during the period of appointment.

Other Work/Responsibilities

The Hokmabadi Research Lab at UNC Charlotte is seeking a highly motivated and talented Postdoctoral Research Associate to lead experimental and fabrication efforts on next-generation optoelectronic devices. Our lab's research spans the domains of optical/terahertz metamaterials, non-Hermitian and supersymmetric optics, photonic integrated circuits (PICs), and semiconductor lasers.

The ideal candidate will take primary responsibility for micro- and nano-fabrication in the cleanroom, as well as the custom design and building of free-space optical bench characterization setups.

Key Responsibilities

1. Cleanroom Micro- and Nano-Fabrication

• Execute full-cycle micro- and nano-fabrication processes to realize complex metamaterial structures, subwavelength features, and semiconductor laser arrays.
• Utilize advanced lithography techniques, including standard photolithography and high-precision electron-beam/nano-lithography.
• Lead thin-film depositions using E-beam evaporation and sputtering systems for both dielectrics and metals.
• Develop and optimize recipe parameters for anisotropic dry etching (e.g., RIE, ICP-RIE) and targeted wet chemical etching workflows.

2. Optical Bench Characterization & Setup Design

• Independently engineer, align, and construct custom free-space and fiber-coupled optical bench test setups from scratch on laboratory breadboards.
• Conduct advanced experimental testing and optoelectronic characterization of metamaterials and semiconductor lasers (including spectrum mapping, L-I-V curves, near/far-field beam profiling, and optical isolation tracking).
• Troubleshoot, maintain, and automate laboratory instrumentation (spectrometers, detectors, tunable laser sources, RF equipment).

3. Numerical Modeling & Device Design

• Perform theoretical design and finite-element modeling of electromagnetic fields, spatial phase profiles, and optical cavity layouts using industry-standard simulation software (e.g., COMSOL Multiphysics, Ansys Lumerical FDTD).
• Analyze complex experimental data and utilize insights to iteratively optimize device architectures.

4. Leadership & Dissemination

• Prepare high-quality manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed high-impact journals and present findings at major optics conferences (e.g., CLEO, SPIE).
• Assist Dr. Hokmabadi in mentoring Ph.D., Master's, and undergraduate students in cleanroom protocols and bench safety.

Necessary Licenses or Certifications Proposed Hire Date 07/16/2026 Contact Information

Dr. Mohammad P. Hokmabadi (mparvinn@charlotte.edu)

Expected Length of Assignment 12 months Posting Open Date 06/30/2026 Posting Close Date Special Notes to Applicants

Please attached the following documents:

• Comprehensive CV (detailing your specific cleanroom fabrication and optical testing background)
• Contact information for three professoinal references

Finalist will be subject to a criminal background check

Posting Specific Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

• How did you hear about this employment opportunity?

• UNC Charlotte Website

• HERC Job Board

• Inside Higher Education

• Mitratech Circa (formerly known as Local JobNetwork)

• Another Website

• Agency Referral

• Advertisement/Publication

• Personal Referral

• Other

• Where did you learn about this posting?

(Open Ended Question)

Applicant Documents

Required Documents

• Cover Letter / Letter of Interest
• Resume / Curriculum Vitae
• Contact Information for References

Optional Documents

• Research Interest Statement