Analysis of Magnetic Noise in SAW Magnetic field Sensors Systems: Toward high sensitivity sensors in [nT-pT] range (M/F)

27 Apr 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

CNRS

Department

Institut Jean Lamour

Research Field

Chemistry
Physics
Technology

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

France

Application Deadline

17 May 2024 - 23:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

35

Offer Starting Date

1 Oct 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The Institute Jean Lamour (IJL) is a joint research unit of CNRS and Université de Lorraine.
Focused on materials and processes science and engineering, it covers: materials, metallurgy, plasmas, surfaces, nanomaterials and electronics.
The IJL has 263 permanent staff (30 researchers, 134 teacher-researchers, 99 IT-BIATSS) and 394 non-permanent staff (182 doctoral students, 62 post-doctoral students / contractual researchers and more than 150 trainees), of 45 different nationalities.
Partnerships exist with 150 companies and our research groups collaborate with more than 30 countries throughout the world.
Its exceptional instrumental platforms are spread over 4 sites; the main one is located on Artem campus in Nancy.

Magnetic sensors have a huge scope of applications in automobiles, robotics, mobile phones, space equipment, geophysics, military weapons, etc. They have a great potential in biomedical applications where they are employed for biomagnetic signal detection or point-of-care diagnostics1. The former involves the detection of the magnetic field emanating from the organs like heart (magnetocardiography-MCG), brain (magnetoencephalography-MEG), muscles (magnetomyography-MMG), and neurons (magnetoneurography-MNG). The latter calls for the detection of proteins, drugs, cells, nucleic acids, and other biomarkers which are usually labelled with magnetic particles.
Surface acoustic waves (SAW) based sensors use piezoelectric crystals coupled with interdigitated electrode transducers (IDTs) to generate the guided SAW waves. The active element of this device is a magnetoresistive/magnetoelastic layer, whose elastic modulus changes in response to the magnetic field thereby modulating the SAW wave proportionately. To maximize the sensitivity, one has to carefully configure the sensor geometry by considering the pitch of the electrodes, spacing, thickness of the active layer, the orientation of easy-axis of the magnetostrictive layer, etc. However, detection of weak magnetic field intensity in the range of nT – pT, requires sensors with high limit of detection (LoD). To maximize the limit LoD of such sensor systems, it is of high importance to understand and to be able to quantify the relevant noise sources. The LoD is governed by the noise in the sensor device but also in the relectronic system considered for signal detection and processing.

This multidisciplinary project will be an opportunity for you to contribute to the design, microfabrication and characterization of new magnetic sensors thanks to advanced equipment at Institut Jean Lamour. This will be a formative experience during which you will be trained cutting edge equipment: different cleanroom microfabrication processes, thin film deposition, magnetic characterization (at macroscopic and nanoscopic scale), RF characterization, etc.

The Ph.D. project consists of investigating the origins of noise with a particular interest in:
- Magnetic white noise (f 0)
- Magnetic flicker noise (f 1)
- Magnetic random noise (f 2)

Readout electronic systems will be also developed in open- and closed-loop configuration using standard RF components (by MiniCircuits).
To achieve this objective, the sensor will be studied at different phases of its manufacturing in order to determine the contribution of each of the layers deposited.

In this PhD work, you will be in charge of:
- a bibliographic study on SAW-based magnetic sensors, noise in MSAW,
- building the redout electronic system. In this task, you will be assisted by IJL engineering staff.
- full characterization (magnetic and functional) of the SAW sensors. The sensors will be fabricated by other members of the project team, but the candidate will be able to participate in this manufacturing for their personal training.

In addition, this PhD work will benefit from the expertise and the manufacturing or characterization equipment of our numerous collaborators at a national and international scale.

References :
[1] P. Duraut et. al., “Noise Analysis of Open-Loop and Closed-Loop SAW Magnetic Field Sensor Systems” IEEE Sensors Journal, 19 (18) 2019.
[2] P. Duraut et. al., “Phase Noise of SAW Delay Line Magnetic Field Sensors,” SENSORS, 21 (16) 2021.

Requirements

Research Field

Chemistry

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field

Physics

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field

Technology

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Languages

FRENCH

Level

Basic

Research Field

Chemistry

Years of Research Experience

None

Research Field

Physics

Years of Research Experience

None

Research Field

Technology

Years of Research Experience

None

Additional Information

Website for additional job details

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR7198-MARTAI-102/Default.aspx

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Institut Jean Lamour

Country

France

City

NANCY

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Candidat/Offre/UMR7198-MARTAI-102/Candidater.aspx

Contact

City

NANCY

Website

http://ijl.univ-lorraine.fr

STATUS: EXPIRED