Doctoral Project Opportunity - CMOS Energy Harvesting for Big Data Applications

Your Job:

The generation of excess heat is a major bottleneck of semiconductor-based electronics, ranging from small scale wearable applications up to large supercomputers. In turn, by developing suitable on-chip and CMOS compatible thermoelectric technologies, not only internet-of-things applications like wearables could be operated by the body temperature alone, but also a significant contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions caused by computing could be made by energy reutilization at operating temperatures below 100°C. The objective is to enable SiGeSn as a novel Si-compatible thermoelectric material able to operate at room or body temperature.

In detail, the planned work will cover

• Creation of ultralow-thermal conductance SiGeSn alloys
  
• Development of an efficient SiGeSn thermoelectric material for room temperature application
  
• Validation of a microfabricated Si-based thermoelectric module
  
• Understanding and optimization of heat generation and transport in the device
  

The work combines experimental and theoretical activities at the institutes PGI-9 (https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/pgi/pgi-9) and IEK-2 (https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/iek/iek-2) at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Your Profile:

• Physics knowledge to understand the heat and carrier transport in semiconductor nanostructures
  
• Engineering knowledge for building and performing electrical measurements and characterization
  
• Programming experience for performing modelling and writing computer interfaces to measurement set-ups
  
• Experience with working in cleanrooms is a critical advantage
  
• Good English skills and good communication ability
  
• Strong motivation for pursuing a doctoral degree within four years in an ambitious, but rewarding interdisciplinary project related to semiconductor physics and energy materials

Our Offer:

We offer ideal conditions for you to work on a doctoral project at the leading edge of science, including:

• Excellent scientific and technical infrastructure
  
• Continuous supervision by a team of experts
  
• A vibrant international work environment on an attractive research campus, ideally situated between the cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Aachen
  
• Further development of your personal strengths, e.g. through an extensive range of training courses; a structured program of continuing education and networking opportunities specifically for doctoral researchers via JuDocS, the Jülich Center for Doctoral Researchers and Supervisors: https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/judocs
  
• Extensive company health management, as well as social security and health insurance.
  
• 30 days of annual leave and provision for days off between public holidays and weekends (e.g. between Christmas and New Year)
  
• Targeted services for international employees, e.g. through our International Advisory Service
  

The project will be conducted jointly at the Peter-Grünberg Institute for semiconductor nanoelectronics (PGI-9) and the Institute of Energy and Climate Research for the structure and function of materials (IEK-2) on the campus of Forschungszentrum Jülich.

In addition to exciting tasks and a collaborative working atmosphere at Jülich, we have a lot more to offer: https://go.fzj.de/benefits

The PhD position is fixed for a term of 4 years. Pay in line with the Collective Agreement for the Public Service (TvÖD-Bund).

We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, e.g. in terms of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation / identity, and social, ethnic and religious origin. A diverse and inclusive working environment with equal opportunities in which everyone can realize their potential is important to us.

For this program it is mandatory to use and upload our CV template: https://go.fzj.de/collaborative-doctoral-projects