Research
The vision of the Integrated Solid-State Photonics Lab is to transform the high performance but bulky solid-state and glass photonics into chip-scale solutions.
Our core research focuses on integrating scalable rare-earth, glasses and other solid-state media on silicon photonics by monolithic or heterogeneous integration. By developing advanced microphotonic devices, we harness and tailor the optical properties and atomic transitions of these solid-state materials to power the next generation of integrated lasers, sensors, and quantum systems.
Infrastructure
Our research group has access to a range of world-class research facilities, such as the Nanofabrication Laboratory (MyFab), Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory (CMAL) and the Photonics Laboratory of Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience at Chalmers.
Myfab Chalmers
The Nanofabrication Laboratory is a clean room facility for research and development in micro and nanotechnology. You will find a wide range of equipment for developing and testing new ideas on a micro and nano scale here. The laboratory is part of the national research infrastructure Myfab, which is coordinated by Chalmers.
Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory
Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory (CMAL) is a research and user facility providing basic and state-of-the-art instruments with relevance to materials science. It is our vision that the multitude of instruments, professional technical support staff and an excellent research environment will provide unique possibilities for conducting world-class materials research. The lab offers a broad park of instruments and tools, primarily in the fields of electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and mass spectrometry.
Photonics Laboratory: Optoelectronics and Fibre optics
Photonics is the science and technology of light. Light is fast, efficient, and clean. Light can interact strongly with biomolecules, for instance in medical detection and treatment, and light propagation can be controlled with extreme spatial precision.
The team
Research group leader
Lam Tran is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Photonics Laboratory, Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2) at Chalmers University of Technology, where she leads the Integrated Solid-State Photonics Lab. Her research bridges the gap between solid-state glass photonics and integrated photonics, focusing on the scalable on-chip integration of novel optical solid-state materials for integrated lasing, sensing, and quantum devices and systems.
She earned her PhD (cum laude) from the University of Trento, Italy, in 2019, focusing on developing rare-earth glasses and glass-ceramics for integrated lasers. Prior to joining Chalmers in March 2026, she held postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies – National Research Council (IFN-CNR) in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano in Italy (2020–2023), and at the Photonics Research Group at Ghent University – imec in Belgium (2023–2026).
Her interdisciplinary expertise spans from material science to device integration, covering, specifically in rare-earth glass photonics, semiconductors, microfabrication, and laser integration. She was awarded the Glass Future Fellow within the Program of the 2022 International Year of Glass, strongly featured her scientific contribution, particularly on rare-earth glass photonics. Now at Chalmers, she leverages this expertise to pioneer the
next generation of scalable integrated solid-state photonic platforms. You can find a full publication list on Lam Tran’s Google Scholar or connect with her LinkedIn
Group members
We are currently building a team of passionate researchers to explore the future on-chip solid-state photonic devices and systems. If you are interested, see more details in Work with us section.
· PhD student: currently recruiting.
· Postdoc: currently recruiting.
Publications
Work with us
PhD & Postdoc Positions
We are currently recruiting for one PhD student and one Postdoctoral researcher. If you are passionate about advancing integrated solid-state photonics, please contact Lam Tran to learn more about the vacancies.
Master’s Thesis
We also have projects for Master Thesis available for students enrolled in any of the Master Programs at Chalmers. Please reach out to Lam Tran to discuss available projects.