I welcome applications from motivated students who would like to work on topics related to my research interests. Please check out group webpage.
Topics for the next academic year:
1. Catalytic growth of selected III-V semiconductor nanowires
The study will be aimed at the growth of III-Sb and III-As nanowires utilizing various catalyst nanoparticles in a MBE chamber of the complex UHV system in CEITEC Nano research infrastructure. Characterization of morphology, composition, and structure, as well as measurement of their optical and electrical transport properties will serve as tools for monitoring the quality of nanowires for electronic and plasmonic applications. The PhD candidate will be focused mostly on fundamental research, explaining processes and mechanisms happening during the nanowire growth.
2. Fabrication of nanowire based devices for use in nanophotonics or bio-intefaces
Due to their geometry, one-dimensional materials seem to be natural building blocks for many device systems, e.g. in electronics or photonics. They can be easily and reproducibly contacted and allow to design 3D devices. Additionally, they seem to be natural choice for nanoscale electrodes (e.g. for detecting cells signalling) or for nanoscale-patterned macroscale electrodes (e.g. in electrochemistry). Currently, mostly undergraduates in our group deal with lithography, which is necessary for device design. We seek for a PhD candidate capable of fabricating a device geometry on demand, and aiming at performing measurements (electrical, optical) relevant for the device application (photonics, bio interfacing, sensing etc.).
3. In-situ monitoring of nanostructures growth
Revealing the growth mechanisms at nanoscale is particularly challenging from many reasons. The most prominent advances in physics of nanostructure growth were achieved utilizing real-time in-situ monitoring techniques (both microscopic and spectroscopic). In our group, we have a large expertise in real time electron microscopy and, in the following year, we will install a new vacuum chamber dedicated to Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy. The aim of this PhD dissertation is to work on revealing puzzling growth modes of different nanostructures of interest (semiconductor nanowires grown by MBE, metallic/oxide threedimensional nanostructures formed by Focused Electron Beam Induced Deposition etc.) utilizing state-of-the-art equipment. Close collaboration with ThermoFisher Scientific R&D labs will be part of applicants work.