M -20046– PHD IN NOVEL, LASER BASED NEUTRAL & PLASMA FLOW DIAGNOSTICS

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) active in the fields of materials, environment and IT. By transforming scientific knowledge into technologies, smart data and tools, LIST empowers citizens in their choices, public authorities in their decisions and businesses in their strategies.

https://www.list.lu/

Through its research into advanced materials and processes, the “Materials Research and Technology” (MRT) department, with its 200 researchers and engineers, contributes to the emergence of enabling technologies that underpin the innovation processes of local and international industry. MRT’s activities hinge on four thematic pillars: nanomaterials and nanotechnology, scientific instrumentation and process technology, structural composites, and functional polymers.

The department also includes four high-tech platforms, focusing on composites, prototyping, characterization and testing. These platforms serve both LIST research staff, and other stakeholders in Luxembourg.

We are excited to launch the project FRAGOLA, recently funded with an ATTRACT grant by the FNR (https://www.fnr.lu/dr-alexandros-gerakis-awarded-fnr-attract-fellowship/ ), which aims at designing and developing the next generation of instrumentation for novel laser diagnostics in the form of single shot coherent Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering as well as its subsequent utilization for the thermodynamic characterization of neutral and plasma flows at LIST and at collaborator’s sites throughout Europe.

Our team is looking for a PhD Student who is expected to strongly contribute to this project through the design and development of the next generation single shot coherent Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering (CRBS) laser apparatus and demonstrating its use for the thermodynamic characterization of neutral and plasma flows in a variety of flow configurations. The project involves the design and development of a novel, portable apparatus capable of performing single shot CRBS, as well as the thermodynamic characterization of the flow conditions where the technique will be applied. The PhD student will actively contribute to the design, development, demonstration of the required instrumentation, as well as to the analysis of the scientific results to be obtained in all experiments of the project. One of the main challenges of the project will be to design the experiments in such way as to become largely accessible to the community and derive the required measurements of interest in an accurate and automated fashion. The student will have to assess the best technological configuration and the related understandings to demonstrate in the end the novel developed instrumentation in laboratory scale wind tunnel and plasma chamber at LIST, prior to demonstrating the capabilities at collaborator’s sites in Europe.

As a key player in research and innovation in Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), with its employees, is active in the domains of materials, the environment and IT. As an RTO (Research and Technology Organisation) and with its interdisciplinary impact-driven approach, LIST contributes to the development of Luxembourg’s economy and society. The Materials Research and Technology Department (MRT) translates cutting-edge materials research into applicable technology, with about 20190 collaborators. For this, the department cultivates close relationships and joint projects with both academic and industrial partners and contributes to Luxembourg's and Europe's innovation agenda in Materials Research and Technology.

The Advanced Instrumentation for Nano-Analytics (AINA) group within the Scientific Instrumentation and Process Technology (SIPT) unit of MRT is renowned for developing innovative nano-analytical techniques for materials characterization and life science applications. During the past few years we have been developing in particular a Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) add-on system for the Helium Ion Microscope (HIM) and for a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), allowing the advantages of high spatial resolution with high sensitivity chemical information to be combined for nano-analytics. Building on this expertise, AINA is currently expanding its research portfolio by developing novel laser based diagnostic techniques for neutral gases, plasmas and nanoparticles.