PhD position - Magnetic Proximity in Semiconductor–Superconductor–Ferro Magnetic Epitaxial Systems - Ref: XN_33_ILL

The European Synchrotron, the ESRF, is an international research centre based in Grenoble, France.

Through its innovative engineering, pioneering scientific vision and a strong commitment from its 700 staff members, the ESRF is recognised as one of the top research facilities worldwide. Its particle accelerator produces intense X-ray beams that are used by thousands of scientists each year for experiments in diverse fields such as biology, medicine, environmental sciences, cultural heritage, materials science, and physics.

Supported by 22 countries, the ESRF is an equal opportunity employer and encourages diversity.

You will join the LSS group and more specifically D17's team at the ILL. D17 is a powerful polarized neutron reflectometer and can be exploited to investigate buried magnetic and structural interfaces. The aim of the PhD project is observing and quantifying the extent of magnetic proximity in semiconductor-superconductor-ferromagnetic epitaxial systems across hybrid interfaces, with the goal of realizing topologically protected quantum states.

The research will be carried out with systematic and iterative 'material synthesis-characterization-analysis' loops, to obtain insights in novel material system grown by molecular beam epitaxy at University of Copenhagen & Microsoft via use of polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) at ILL to obtain depth resolved magnetization profiles and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) techniques at ESRF to acquire element specific magnetic moments. This insight will result in fast & tremendous progress towards the zero-field topologically protected quantum bits, required for error-corrected scalable quantum computing.

You will also learn about various complementary techniques to quantify structural and electrical properties of the material systems such as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, where-in the experiments will be performed in collaboration with in-house experts. This PhD project will have strong competitive advantages and is expected to be marked by new findings in the field of quantum technologies, resulting in numerous high-impact factor publications.

Further information may be obtained from Nina-Juliane Steinke (tel.: +33 (0) 4 76 20 7638, email: [Email Address Removed]), from Kim Lefmann (+45 29 25 04 76, email: [Email Address Removed]) and from Peter Kogstrup ([Email Address Removed]).

- Degree allowing enrolment for a PhD (such as MSc, Master 2 de Recherche, Laurea or equivalent) in Physics, materials science or closely related science

- A background in experimentation is desirable,

- Manual skills and rigorous attention to detail are essential in this work environment

- Proficiency in English (A proof of upper-intermediate level would be advantageous and can be provided in the application. Applicants originating from native-English-speaking countries can apply without the need for proof of level. An official degree conducted in English will be also accepted as a proof; Students without proof upper-intermediate level may still apply and their level of English will be checked during the interview).

- Compliance with the Marie Sklodowska-Curie mobility rule: candidates may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than twelve months in the three years immediately before the date of recruitment.

- At the date of recruitment, early-stage researchers must be in the first four years of their research careers and have not yet been awarded a doctoral degree.

- Candidates must satisfy eligibility criteria according to the partner university requirements for PhD enrolment.

More details about the application procedure on www.innovaxn.eu/for-students/documents/

The successful candidate will be enrolled in the doctoral school of University of Copenhagen (Copenhagen, Denmark) and based full-time at the ILL (Grenoble, France), other than a 3-months minimum secondment at Microsoft (Microsoft Quantum Materials Lab, Lyngby, Denmark) Additional visits totaling no more than 3 months may be made to the University of Copenhagen. when needed. Furthermore, a varied pedagogical training programme will be offered to the successful candidate throughout the 3-year PhD project.

More details on the InnovaXN programme on www.innovaxn.eu