PhD Studentship: Ultrafast Quantum Dynamics in Next-generation Energy Materials

Funding availability: The studentship is normally only available to home (UK) students, but there is a possibility to extend it to an EU/international student.)

Start date: October 2024 (some flexibility)

Duration: 3.5 years

Deadline: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the post is filled. Final deadline 1^st May 2024.

Project Description

While we as humans are used to minutes and hours, the atoms and electrons that lie at the centre of many of our everyday technologies such as computers and batteries move a whole faster: closer to a million-billionths of a second (femtoseconds). If we want to design materials or devices with novel functionalities, particularly for clean renewable energy, we need to understand, and be able to control, the intrinsically quantum mechanical motion of atoms/electrons on this timescale. One of the most powerful ways of doing this is using ultrashort bursts of light to make stop-motion ‘movies’ of the dynamics inside a material (ultrafast spectroscopy). In the iCCD lab led by Dr Raj Pandya at Warwick University (Department of Chemistry) this is what we try to do (see: https://www.iccd-lab.com/).

The goal of this fully funded 3.5-year PhD studentship is to further push the limits of what we can achieve and learn from ultrafast spectroscopic techniques. A variety of projects are available such as:

(1) developing new methods to manipulate electrons inside inorganic semiconductor materials using entangled photons or twisted light.

(2) probing the ultrafast electrochemical dynamics of ions inside battery materials using THz radiation.

(3) understanding how to switch-on magnetism in low-dimensional nanostructures with vibrations.

However, the exact details of your research project will be determined based on your interests and expertise together.

Work in the group is mostly experimental but with strong interactions with theorists, and opportunities to blend both aspects of research. For example, over the project you could build a brand-new laser setup, synthesise a never-before seen nanomaterial or develop algorithms for imaging deeper inside operating energy devices.

You will be able to learn a wide range of technical and transferable/sought-after skills in quantum/non-linear optics, synthetic materials chemistry, coding/signal processing and project management, with access to unique tools and world-class facilities.

We offer an international, diverse, inclusive and fun environment with lots of energy and time to help you learn and develop. You will be supported to travel to national and international conferences and take research visits with our international collaborators in France, Germany and the USA if you wish. In addition, Warwick University sits in central England, in an area with some of the best value and quality for living within the UK.

References: [1] Pandya et al. Nat. Commun.  12, 6519 (2021) [2] Pandya et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 18 1185-1194 (2023) [3] Pandya et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc 140 (43), 14097-14111 (2018)

Requirements: Applicants should have an honours degree (at least 2.1 or equivalent) in chemistry, physics, materials science or engineering. No prior expertise in the above areas is required.

How to apply: To make an informal enquiry or to discuss projects in more detail, please contact me by email (Raj.Pandya@warwick.ac.uk). The formal application can be made here: http://www.go.warwick.ac.uk/pgapply/research

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the post is filled.

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