INTERN SPOTLIGHT: MAX HUBBARD
As a WPI undergraduate studying applied physics, Max Hubbard’s summer internship at AIM Photonics covered a wide range of activities that will both enrich AIM Photonics’ process design kit (PDK) offering and advance the silicon photonics ecosystem.
In addition to setting up an edge coupler for broadband sensor measurements, Max’s projects also included performing measurement and analysis of SiN-based modulators, as well as high-frequency RF measurements on calibration structures.
“SiN-based modulators are a novel concept and the initial results that Max has provided will help us improve the performance of these devices,” said AIM Photonics Design Enablement Manager Amit Dikshit, who served as Hubbard’s mentor this summer.
In addition, Dikshit added that the high-frequency RF measurements that Max performed will be used to develop a calibration kit for AIM Photonics customers.
The wide range of functions that Hubbard conducted during his internship gave him greater insight into the breadth of work that AIM Photonics does.
“The work that I had previously seen using AIM Photonics technology had been concentrated to smaller chips, so I was not expecting to spend so much time working on wafers in probe stations,” Hubbard said. “I was also not expecting to learn about on-wafer RF measurements, which helped me see how they differ from optical and DC wafer measurements.”
One of the major projects Hubbard worked on involved characterizing a ring modulator.
“To do this experiment, I had to learn a lot about coding that I didn’t know before,” Hubbard said. “I had to learn how to send instructions to the measurement devices and then learn even more advanced techniques to analyze the data.”
In doing this project Hubbard also gained knowledge about creating tools that can also be applied to other projects.
“The code that I wrote was later used by another student in the program and this is in line with what I’d be doing in the future,” Hubbard said. “Developing tools that can be used for a variety of tasks and that can be used by people less experienced in coding is important for a test engineer to be able to do.”
Hubbard plans to complete his B.S. in physics in the upcoming year and then look for a job in the integrated photonics/CMOS fabrication industry.
“My internship at AIM helped reaffirm my interest in this area,” he added.
You can find out more about Max Hubbard on his LinkedIn profile.
Read the full story:
Students Explore Integrated Photonics through Summer Internships at AIM Photonics