Lighting the Way Together: Academic Life in a European Research Network

Follow along with us as we catch up with members of the RESPITE research network who are pushing the boundaries of photonics and computing

Some research days don’t end in breakthroughs—but they do build them.

After our previous post discussing with Sharon, a DPhil student at the Advanced Nanoscale Engineering Lab working on the RESPITE project, we caught up with the members of the group again to shadow two researchers who are helping shape the next era of photonics and computing: Serena Sabnani, a second-year DPhil student, and Dr. Angel Ortega-Gomez, a postdoctoral researcher. Both are contributing to RESPITE’s mission to revolutionize how we process and sense information—through neuromorphic computing, superconducting technology, and controlling light itself.

Serena – Fabrication Focus

Serena’s attention is on fabrication for the day. The task is to prepare some chips for processing at the University of Groningen, one of the Consortium members. Test optical devices known as waveguides have been patterned on a silicon-on-insulator chip using the standard CMOS fabrication methods enabled by the University’s cleanroom facilities. Another layer of fabrication is required to deposit a phase change material on the chip, which requires micron-level alignment using an electron beam lithography system.

Having patterned the waveguides and deposited gold on markers to help with alignment, Serena enters the cleanroom with the chip samples in question, and the first task is to ensure the samples are clean enough to pattern on. Ultrasonic cleaning of the chips with acetone and IPA ensures that this is the case. After this, a layer of positive-tone electron beam resist is spun onto the chip, just 1.5 microns thick. This is the patterning layer for the design.

Loading the design file into the electron beam lithography system, she runs through the calibration of the beam current, finding standardised markers and adjusting the focus of the beam with gold nanoparticles.

“The system we have is so sensitive to changes - even in our controlled environment – that not verifying the calibration every time can result in micron-level misalignment. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when your waveguides are just half a micron wide, it’s important that your phase change material windows overlap them right where you want them to. Otherwise, this can cause a lot of issues when it comes to the deposition and testing the chips.” She says, following up with “One of the most important lessons I think I’ve learned here is that reproducible, robust science starts with meticulousness and attention to detail.”


After the calibration is complete, she sets up the local markers to be identified in the system. All samples are complete within a couple of hours, and she develops them according to a standard recipe before putting them in a sample box to be sent to Groningen for the next steps.

 

Angel – Collaborative Chats, Simulations and Device Testing

RESPITE’s goal is ambitious: to build neuromorphic systems where sensing and processing happen in a single chip, inspired by the brain. To achieve this, a consortium of researchers across Europe’s universities and companies meet regularly to ensure that the projects proceed smoothly and discuss the effects that their individual expertise that will contribute to this boundary-pushing project.

Angel hops onto a call with international partners – The SingleQuantum Team working on superconducting nanowire photodetectors, while the team from Groningen works with PCM memory integration. It’s technical, intense, and deeply collaborative, and all participants agree on a shared vision and plan going forward before signing off.

After the spirited discussion, Angel puts his simulation skills and theoretical optical knowledge to good use. Designing novel structures that are capable of achieving the lofty ambitions of the project requires deep thought and heavy optimisation. Using FDTD software, Angel runs several iterations of a design involving microring resonators, and spends some time refining its geometry – right down to the nanometre.

“The geometry of the device is very important, including the width, height and radius of the rings.”, he explains, “As all of this influences the performance and ability of the device to confine the light of our desired wavelengths. These parameters are also influenced by the other devices being developed by our partners.”

As the simulations run, he works with Sharon, Serena and Sijing, another DPhil student, to test some of the devices received by another institution. Together, they build and run a setup to determine switching parameters for another phase change material to act as a control for comparison with the devices with Groningen (left). After this, the small group take some time to update each other – Serena shares her updates on the fabrication process, while Angel outlines the feedback from the meeting and their next steps.

The day isn’t defined by a discovery—but by momentum. By laying the groundwork for big breakthroughs to occur, and by coordinating with the other project leads, providing greater motivation and pulling together the big picture from the incremental day-to-day.

RESPITE’s technology may one day underpin quantum computing, ultra-efficient AI, or biomedical sensing. But today, it lives in the quiet focus, collaborative discussions and reproducible meticulousness that underlies the world-leading research conducted at the consortium’s member institutions.

In research, breakthroughs aren’t events—they’re trajectories. What today looks like a series of calibrations, simulations, and late-afternoon meetings will one day become the foundation of transformative technology. As the RESPITE consortium continues its journey, one thing is clear: progress in science rarely arrives all at once, but rather built in layers. From the nanoscale to the network of minds across Europe, it’s the slow, shared pursuit of knowledge that lights the way forward.