Supervisor

Professor Isobel Hook

Description

Dark energy is often invoked as the cause of the accelerating expansion of the universe, but its nature remains unknown. Several new telescopes and surveys will soon address this issue. This PhD project aims to advance the use of Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators for cosmology, using a combination of simulations and data from these new telescopes.

Specifically, the student will work on surveys with the Rubin Observatory, ESA's Euclid mission and/or 4MOST (the 4meter Multi-Object Spectrograph Telescope). These surveys will detect tens of thousands of new supernovae and their host galaxies with a range of imaging and spectroscopic observations at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. The project will start by working with collaborators to prepare for and collect the new datasets. The first dataset available is from the Euclid mission, which was launched in July 2023 and is now producing spectacular images that will be used to search for supernovae. As the dataset increases in size, the project will move towards searching for statistical correlations among various properties of the supernovae and their environments. This information will be used to improve the accuracy of Type Ia supernova distance measurements, and hence ultimately improve constraints on the nature of Dark Energy.

Please contact Professor Isobel Hook for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Supervisor

Dr John Stott

Description

Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound objects in the Universe, consisting of tens to thousands of galaxies within a relatively small volume. They are used extensively as laboratories for galaxy evolution, as they contain galaxies that have experienced a similar environment and processes over many billions of years. They are also key cosmological indicators with the evolution of the number of galaxy clusters of a given mass being very sensitive to the Dark Matter content of the Universe. Because of their importance for both astrophysics and cosmology it is desirable to obtain large, well understood samples of galaxy clusters over a range of redshifts. The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST, is an imaging survey performed with the Rubin Observatory that will discover thousands of new galaxy clusters, providing such a sample. It will image the entire southern sky with an 8.4m telescope every few nights for 10 years, producing 200 petabytes of imaging data. This will be the state-of-the-art for optical surveys for many years to come.

This project aims to further develop pre-existing algorithms and machine learning code to identify large numbers of distant galaxy clusters within the LSST survey. These algorithms will be run on existing comparable, but smaller area surveys, and the early-phase of LSST that will begin operation in 2022. The algorithms will be designed so that they can be scaled-up to deal efficiently with the full size of the main LSST survey. The cluster samples generated here will also be used to study the evolution of galaxies in dense environments and potentially cosmology.

Please contact Dr John Stott for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Supervisor

Dr John Stott

Description

As the Universe ages, galaxies find themselves drawn together into filaments, groups and clusters. Galaxies entering these dense environments can experience processes which ultimately lead to a dramatic change in their appearance and internal properties. This project will discover how galaxies are transformed (`quenched’) from blue star-forming spiral discs (like our own Milky Way) into passive red elliptical galaxies, through interactions with their environment.

This PhD project will be a detailed study of galaxy transformation with environment, comparing those in massive galaxy clusters to the low density "field" environment. You will use spectroscopy and imaging from Hubble Space Telescope, Very Large Telescope, Subaru telescope and the revolutionary Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The results of this project will be physically interpreted through comparison with the outputs from state-of-the-art cosmological simulations of galaxy formation.

Please contact Dr John Stott for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Supervisor

Dr Julie Wardlow

Description

Luminous submillimetre-selected galaxies (SMGs) and dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) are distant galaxies that are undergoing immense bursts of star formation, with typical star-formation rates of hundreds to thousands of times that of our Milky Way. These extreme systems likely represent a key phase in the formation of massive local elliptical galaxies and even 20 years after their discovery they continue to challenge theories of galaxy evolution.

This PhD project aims to reveal both the small-scale and large-scale environments of SMGs. Using data from facilities including Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) and ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) the project will examine whether the extreme star formation in SMGs is triggered by mergers and interactions with nearby companions. We will also study whether SMGs reside in protoclusters, which is expected for the progenitors of local massive elliptical galaxies. The results of these observational analyses will be used to test theories of the formation and evolution of submillimetre galaxies, and probe whether they are caused by galaxy-galaxy mergers as some simulations suggest.

Please contact Dr Julie Wardlow for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to the availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Supervisor

Dr Brooke Simmons

Description

Galaxies build up their complex structures over billions of years via a diverse set of processes, including interactions with other galaxies and more solitary in-situ processes. The vast majority of galaxies also host a central supermassive black hole, and these black holes accrete and grow via processes that correlate their masses with the properties of their host galaxies. Some of the most fundamental questions about these processes are not yet answered, such as: how important are galaxy mergers to the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes? By what processes can a supermassive black hole accrete enough material to sustain the observed range of luminosities at which we observe them? How important is AGN feedback to galaxy evolution? With the latest generation of telescopes and high-resolution cosmological models, we are starting to answer these questions.

Investigation of these topics during a PhD project will involve data reduction and analysis of multiwavelength, multi-channel observational data, including spectroscopy and images from the Hubble Space Telescope and JWST. A key aim is to isolate and analyse the "merger-free" channel of black hole and galaxy growth, via galaxy morphological indicators. This will involve hands-on work with large datasets as well as working with and writing code. The student will join multiple established, productive communities, such as the Galaxy Zoo project. They will likely also have the opportunity to gain hands-on observing experience at world-class telescopes. This project is subject to availability of funding.

Please contact Dr Brooke Simmons for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Supervisor

Dr Brooke Simmons

Description

The first images of the early Universe from JWST have raised at least as many questions as they have answered about galaxy evolution. Further upcoming missions and surveys promise to do the same. Why are disk galaxies so common at high redshift? How do they grow to the masses at which they are observed, and how do we expect them to evolve to later times? For example, could they be the progenitors of galaxies like the Milky Way? How do we reliably identify disk galaxies and galaxies with other dynamical and morphological configurations in the large datasets provided by upcoming surveys?

Investigation of these topics during a PhD project will involve analysis of multiwavelength, multi-channel observational data. This will include hands-on work with large datasets as well as working with and writing code. The student will join multiple established, productive communities, such as the Galaxy Zoo project. The student will have the opportunity to lead a data release of a morphological sample from at least one of the latest generation of surveys (e.g. from JWST, Euclid, or LSST, depending on timing and student interest). It is likely this will involve machine learning techniques, as well as combining machine classification predictions with citizen science classifications. The student will likely also have the opportunity to gain hands-on observing experience at world-class telescopes. This project is subject to availability of funding.

Please contact Dr Brooke Simmons for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Supervisor

Dr Samantha Oates

Description

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are brief, intense flashes of gamma-rays that are accompanied by longer lasting emission in the X-ray to radio wavelengths. The duration of the gamma-ray emission may be as short as a few milliseconds or may last for as long as a few hundred seconds, during which the GRB ‘out-shines’ all objects in the known universe.

GRBs are divided, based on the duration of their gamma-ray emission, into two classes 'long' and 'short', which are associated, respectively, with the collapse of massive stars or the mergers of two compact objects (either two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole). Short GRBs have been associated with gravitational waves.

The search for the electromagnetic counterpart (EM), the GRB afterglow or kilonova, of gravitational wave (GW) events has lead to large areas of sky being observed leading to the detection of a variety of serendipitous optical/UV transients that are considered contaminants from EM searches to GW events, which may be interesting transients in their own right.

Some open questions in this area of research are: What are the environments GRBs explode into? What are the central engines and the structure of the jets? Have GRBs or their environments evolved with cosmological time? Can GRBs and their correlations be useful as cosmological probes? What are the optical/UV contaminants in the searches for the EM counterparts to GWs? The PhD student will have the opportunity to explore these types of questions. They will be able to join international collaborations such as Swift, LSST, STARGATE, and ENGRAVE.

Please contact Dr Samantha Oates for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Supervisor

Dr Mathew Smith

Description

The Universe is currently undergoing a period of rapid accelerated expansion. This discovery, suggesting that 75% of the energy budget of the Universe is unexplained represents the biggest mystery in physics today. Type Ia supernova, as bright, highly homogenous, explosions, are excellent measures of distance. Visible to vast distances, these cosmic light-bulbs are ideal measures of how the size and content of the Universe has evolved over the last 10 billion years. This PhD project aims to expand the use of these events to probe new aspects of cosmology.

Specifically, the student will exploit data collected by the international Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) collaboration to maximise our understanding of type Ia supernova to produce a detailed 3D map of the nearby Universe. This project represents a leap forward in this field; more than ten thousand discoveries are now made each year, compared to several hundred collected in the last twenty. The student will develop machine learning tools to separate type Ia supernovae from other variable sources, and search for statistical correlations that can improve the measured distance to each event. The student will work closely with a team of international researchers in France, Germany, Sweden, Ireland and the USA to measure the 3D distribution of matter which will improve our understanding of Dark Energy and General Relativity.

Lancaster University has a leading role in multiple state-of-the-art supernova experiments including DES, LSST, 4MOST, Euclid and JWST. As the PhD develops, the student will be encouraged to join and collaborate on projects based upon their own interests.

Please contact Dr Mathew Smith for further information. This PhD project represents just one component of the research performed by the wider Astrophysics group at Lancaster University. Our PhD projects are offered on a competitive basis and are subject to availability of funding. For more general information about PhD study in Physics at Lancaster please contact our postgraduate admissions staff at py-pgadmiss@lancaster.ac.uk.

Project Supervisor

Professor Konstantinos Dimopoulos

Description

The project aims to investigate Cosmic Inflation and Dark Energy in the context of cutting-edge fundamental theories (e.g. string theory, modified gravity etc.) by contrast to existing and forthcoming observations (e.g. of the CMB radiation, Primordial Gravitational Waves etc.), thereby providing insights into the theoretical background and also on the tensions experienced by the current standard model of Cosmology (ΛCDM). The project will explore novel ideas about modelling Cosmic Inflation and Dark Energy, using both analytical and numerical techniques. The objective will be to develop new realistic models that will offer concrete predictions to be tested in the near future. Examples are, Quintessential Inflation, which considers that both Cosmic Inflation and Dark Energy are driven by a single degree of freedom in a common theoretical framework, the production of Primordial Black Holes by Cosmic inflation, which can be the Dark Matter, or the seeds of galactic supermassive black holes, and can also be employed to reheat the Universe, the generation of enhanced Primordial Gravitational Waves during a stiff period in the Universe history, which may follow Cosmic Inflation, and could be seen by the LISA space interferometer and so on. Questions of the initial conditions of Cosmic Inflation itself, either from spacetime foam or after a bounce, and also of the ultimate, possibly cataclysmic fate of the Universe as determined by Dark Energy might also be studied.

The Physics Department is the holder of an Athena SWAN Silver award and JUNO Championship status and is strongly committed to fostering diversity within its community as a source of excellence, cultural enrichment, and social strength. We welcome those who would contribute to the further diversification of our department.

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• Applying for postgraduate study

Supervisor

Professor Jim Wild

Description

Magnetospheric dynamics at Earth are primarily driven by coupling between the magnetised solar wind and the magnetospheric magnetic field and plasma. This coupling is highly variable and strongly controlled by the relative orientation of the interplanetary and magnetospheric magnetic fields.

Many studies have revealed that the magnetosphere has a non-linear response to solar wind drivers. During periods of enhanced solar wind driving, magnetospheric activity ceases to increase in line with increasing driving conditions, an effect known as “saturation”. Several physical mechanisms for this effect have been proposed, but no consensus has been reached over the cause. Recently, it has also been suggested that the saturation effect is not real, but an artefact of uncertainties in the propagation of upstream measurements from the L1 position (the gravitational equilibrium position located on the Sun-Earth line, approximately 1.5 million kilometres upstream of the Earth). It is also noted that the magnetospheric response to solar wind drivers observed at L1 can be highly variable. Sometimes a given set of driving conditions results in significantly higher levels of magnetospheric activity than at other times. The reasons for this are not wholly understood, but some of the variability is likely to be caused by uncertainties in the propagation of upstream measurements from L1 to the Earth leading the wrong solar wind driving conditions to be associated with the observed magnetospheric response.

In this project, the student shall exploit measurements made by the ESA Cluster spacecraft, to confirm or discount the non-linear response of the system to interplanetary drivers. The 20+ year Cluster dataset is the product of decades of UKRI/UKSA investment and represents an invaluable scientific resource. Cluster measurements in the solar wind and magnetosheath (within 20 R_E of the Earth) will enable the student to examine driver/response relationships in more detail and with less uncertainly than has previously been possible.

As a PhD student in Lancaster’s Space and Planetary Physics (SPP) group you will conduct cutting-edge research in the company of world-leading scientists. You will develop and exploit skills in computer-based data analysis and interpretation of satellite data products. To facilitate this will receive a programme of training in the scientific and technical background required to conduct your research, and in the written and oral presentation skills required to disseminate your results to the international scientific community and general audiences. Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in a subject such as Physics or Geophysics.

Supervisor

Professor Adrian Grocott

Description

Magnetospheric dynamics involves the study of the dynamic behaviour of, and processes that occur within, the Earth's magnetosphere. This fascinating field of research encompasses a wide range of phenomena, including the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field, the formation and dynamics of the magnetopause, the generation of geomagnetic storms and substorms, magnetic reconnection events, and the effects of space weather on the magnetosphere. Studying for a PhD at the nexus of space and ground-based observations, you will use a variety of observational and theoretical tools to unravel the complex nature of the plasma flows within Earth's magnetosphere, contributing to our broader understanding of space physics and its impact on our planet. You will explore the dynamic interplay between Earth and space using a synergistic approach, combining satellite data with ground-based observations. As part of this innovative research endeavour, you will have access to cutting-edge observations, collaborate with leading experts, and contribute to advancing our comprehension of the fundamental forces shaping Earth's space environment. If you possess a passion for space physics, geophysics or related fields, seize this opportunity to expand the frontiers of space science at one of the leading physics departments in the country.

The successful candidate should hold a minimum of a UK MPhys Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in a Physics-based subject. The candidate is expected to successfully work as part of a team, and to complete research suitable for the award of a PhD in Physics, including publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals.

Please contact Professor Adrian Grocott for further information.

Supervisor

Dr Licia Ray

Description

Soft x-rays are emitted when highly stripped solar wind ions interact with neutrals in the local space environment. Planetary magnetosheaths, the boundary layers between a planet’s magnetopause and bow shock, are rife with such interactions. In this project, you will characterise Uranus’s magnetosheath x-ray signature.

This fascinating problem has many aspects to consider. First, the abundance of neutral material in Uranus’s local environment is not well understood, with the moon source rates based on the Voyager fly-by. Furthermore, Uranus’s magnetic field is offset and tilted with respect to the planet’s spin axis, with the planet tilted nearly 90 degrees with respect to the ecliptic. The orbiting moons, and any neutral material they emit, rotate in the equatorial plane. This means that the orientation of the solar wind and magnetosheath with respect to neutral clouds with vary with season. The cusps are likely to present interesting flow channels that may enhance emission.

This work is highly topical due to interest in ice giant orbiters. One goal would be to test the viability of an x-ray imager at outer planet systems with later stages of the work extending the study to the Neptunian system. Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK honours degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in a Physics-related subject. Candidates are expected to successfully work as part of a team and to complete research suitable for award of a PhD in Physics. Comfort with coding is beneficial.

Supervisor

Dr Licia Ray

Description

The interaction between a planet’s ionosphere, thermosphere, and magnetosphere is highly complex. Angular momentum and energy are exchanged between the three regions through a variety of processes, all mediated by the magnetic field. This project is broad with the applicant encouraged to explore the aspect of the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system that is most interesting to them. Possible routes forward are:

1. Exploring the coupling between Jupiter’s mid-latitude regions – The thermosphere above Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS) indicates that the atmosphere is warmer than the local surroundings. One possible cause for this heating is joule heating associated with GRS flows forcing the upper atmosphere. Is it possible for the GRS to drive conjugate heating in the northern hemisphere? To what extent can conjugate heating explain the higher than expected temperatures in Jupiter’s thermosphere?
2. Investigating particle acceleration above Jupiter’s atmosphere – Analyse output from a numerical model of particle acceleration above Jupiter’s atmosphere to determine how electric field siphon ionospheric particles outwards as well as channelling magnetospheric particles into the atmosphere.

This work is highly topical as Juno is currently in orbit at Jupiter. A successful project would compare model output to the most recent mission results. Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK honours degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in a Physics-related subject. Candidates are expected to successfully work as part of a team and to complete research suitable for award of a PhD in Physics. Comfort with coding is beneficial.

Supervisor

Dr Harald Fox

Description

The discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 showed us the principle way how the breaking of the electroweak symmetry is realised in nature. However, several aspects of that mechanism are still being investigated. Two examples are the matter – anti-matter symmetry (CP) of the new Higgs boson, and the existence of further bosons in addition to the Higgs. At Lancaster we are analysing ATLAS data collected at the LHC in the hadronic di-tau final state.

The di-tau final state is the most accessible final state where the Higgs boson couples to fermions directly. This signal allows us to measure the CP properties of the Higgs boson. The Standard Model predicts a CP-even scalar Higgs with no CP violation in the production or decay. On the other hand, we know that there is not enough CP violation in the quark sector of the Standard Model to explain the existence of the universe. Observation of a new source of CP violation is hence necessary. Measuring the Higgs couplings and its CP properties is hence an important test for the Standard Model.

While the existence of the Higgs boson confirms the electroweak phase transition via a symmetry breaking potential, the shape of the potential and the exact nature of the mechanism is not constrained by theory or measurements so far. We use the di-tau final state to search for additional scalars to test models of the phase transition.

Supervisor

Dr Karim Massri

Description

Lepton Flavour Universality (LFU) is a pillar of the Standard Model (SM) that implies equal interaction strength for particles from different lepton families, as the electron and the muon. Several recent experimental results in particle physics seem to suggest possible LFU violation, which is predicted by many Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) scenarios.

Kaons, the lightest particles containing the “strange” quark, provide an outstanding way of searching for BSM physics via precise measurements. Experimental studies of decays of strange and light quarks is a very active field of research, and significant progress is expected over the next decade.

The NA62 experiment at CERN, a multi-purpose experiment investigating rare kaon decays, is the flagship of the European kaon physics programme and a leader in this field worldwide. NA62 has been operational since 2016 and will continue to collect data at least until 2025. Due to a uniquely intense kaon beam provided by the CERN accelerator complex and a range of state-of-the-art detectors, a variety of stringent SM tests can be performed within the NA62 experiment. In particular, the Lancaster group is leading the analysis of leptonic kaon decays to obtain the most-precise LFU test in the world.

The student on this project would be a member of the NA62 collaboration and would contribute to the LFU research with the NA62 data. The student's contribution to the LFU research can be tailored to some extent on the student skills and interests. Joining a medium-size international collaboration, the student will have the opportunity to play a leading role on a hot topic in particle physics, while developing key expertise on hardware, software, and data analysis. The student will also spend some months on-site at CERN, acting as a detector expert and doing data-taking shifts.

Students interested in this PhD studentship should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Funding is available on a competitive basis.

Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Professor Roger Jones

Description

We are working on the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Our main work concerns the search for the signatures of new physics processes. We wish to address the big questions: Why is there a matter/antimatter asymmetry in our universe? What is the nature of dark matter? Are there additional forces to the four in the Standard Model of particle physics? Unusually, we use the same techniques to search for new physics directly (though the search for new particles) and indirectly (through the effect of new particles, too massive to be produced directly, on very precisely measured quantities). The common themes are in our areas of expertise: the precise measurement of the tracks left by particles and the lifetimes of decaying particles; the fast identification (so-called “triggering”) of relatively low momentum muons; and the stringent control of backgrounds to the physics signals coming from particles containing beauty quarks.

The successful candidate will work on the search for new particles that live long enough to decay in the tracking detector of the ATLAS experiment, then decay to produce muons; and investigate the matter-antimatter asymmetry parameters in the decay of B_s particles.

If they wish, the student will have to opportunity to work on a smaller experiment (NA62) looking at the rare decays of kaons, which can also reveal new physics departures from the Standard Model.

The student will be able to work on the software and large-scale computing for the experiment and use data science techniques in particle physics. The student would normally spend 12 months in Geneva working closely with an international team of experts on the experiment.

Please contact Professor Roger Jones for further information. Students interested in this PhD project should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Professor Roger Jones

Description

The PhD will analyse new data from the world’s largest collider, LHC, situated in CERN. The data are taken after the LHC upgrade to an energy of 13.6 TeV. After the enormous success of the LHC, culminating with finding the Higgs particle, we have now opened a new chapter in the search for New Physics.

The high precision measurements of B-hadron decays allow for indirect searches for New Physics, where New particles that are produced virtually alter the B decays so they do not follow rules of the Standard Model. This builds on Lancaster’s leading role in the ATLAS analysis of the Run2 data to search for New Physics contributions to the CP-violation in the Bs-decays, which led to 3 publications in influential journals. ATLAS detector upgrade of Inner Detector with additional pixel layer (IBL in 2015), followed by further detector and trigger improvements in Run3 (started in 2022) allow ATLAS substantially increase the measurement precision. This change will allow ATLAS to measure the CP violation in Bs meson decays with unprecedented precision and will increase the potential for finding possible New Physics effects.

We propose two distinct physics measurements, both searching for New Physics in CP violation. They study the decay channels Bs ➔J/ψφ and Bs ➔J/ψKK. The methodology is similar, while a physics potential is different. These two measurements are complementary to each other, and the conclusion on CP effects can be only done by performing both. Also, we propose a high precision measurement in channel Bd ➔J/ψK0*, which is both a stringent test of the detector performance and calibration and has new interesting physics information in its own right.

Please contact Professor Roger Jones for further information. Students interested in this PhD project should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Professor Roger Jones

Description

The PhD will analyse new data from the world’s largest collider, LHC, situated in CERN. The data are taken after the LHC upgrade to an energy of 13 TeV. After the enormous success of the LHC in 2010-2012, culminating with finding the Higgs particle, we have now opened a new chapter in the search for physics beyond the Standard Model.

This proposed search for displaced supersymmetric (SUSY) particles is an example of a “direct search” in which the signal would be distinguished by an excess of displaced objects relative to those coming from Standard Model. The searches will focus on events with a pair of leptons (muons, electrons) produced at a point between 0.01 mm and 1 cm from the original collision sideways from the beams. Our initial search was designed to be sensitive to a wide range of RPV-SUSY models with sleptons decaying into non-prompt di-lepton final states. This is now being extended to events with non-prompt leptons and displaced secondary vertices to search for low-mass, low-lifetime neutralinos and charginos.

In addition to these direct searches, novel methods of establishing limits on parameters for SUSY models using the cascade decays of B-mesons are under investigation, with the aim of setting limits on the possible mixing between SM and non-SM particles.

From 2015 has an upgraded Inner Detector with additional pixel layer (IBL) that has substantially increased the precision with which the production point of the lepton pair can be resolved. In addition to the upgraded hardware, and new method of track reconstruction has been introduced with the start of Run3 in 2022. Both additions will allow us to improve these searches in the future.

The PhD will analyse the data using decay channels including a pair of displaced leptons, to provide updates results on searches for SUSY particles, and limits on SUSY-model parameters. In addition, there will be studies of the performance of the detector hardware and its reconstruction software toolchain, to identify improvements for the current and future analyses.

Please contact Professor Roger Jones for further information. Students interested in this PhD project should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor:

Professor Guennadi Borissov

Description:

The subject of this PhD project is the study of the properties of the top quark using the data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The top quark is the heaviest known particle which does not have an internal structure. Because of its large mass, the behaviour of the top quark in interactions with other particles can be sensitive to the contribution of new phenomena not included in the Standard Model. The top quark is produced in large quantities at the LHC and is efficiently detected by the ATLAS detector. Thus, studying the top quark opens up exciting possibilities for discovering new physics.

The successful candidate will develop the test of lepton flavour universality in decays of the top quark. A good working knowledge of programming languages, such as C++ and Python as well as an excellent understanding of particle physics is essential for this position. The student would normally spend at least 12 months in CERN, Geneva working closely with other colleagues in the ATLAS experiment.

Please contact Professor Guennadi Borissov for further information.

Students interested in this PhD project should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor:

Professor Vakhtang Kartvelishvili

Description:

Ever since the discovery of the J/psi meson in 1974, the investigation of the production and decay properties of heavy quarkonium states has provided a unique source of information about the minute details of fundamental particle interactions within the Standard Model (SM). In many collider experiments, studies involving vector quarkonia provide the foundation of various analyses aimed at improving our understanding of Quantum Electrodynamics and Quantum Chromodynamics, thanks to their dilepton decay modes which are easy to identify and convenient to be triggered on. These gave rise to a series of studies where quarkonium is not just a subject, but also a tool to study the properties of other objects such as tetra- and penta-quarks, as well as searches for heavier particles beyond the SM.

The ATLAS group at Lancaster has a long history of leadership in the area of charmonium and bottomonium production at the LHC, including several pioneering studies of associated production, where a J/psi meson is produced in association of another heavy object, such as a W or a Z boson, or, indeed, another quarkonium state. Apart from producing valuable information on the most significant backgrounds for various BSM searches, these final states provide unique ways of studying the fundamental properties of hadrons, such as the distribution of gluons inside a proton, something which affects many processes under study at the LHC.

The PhD project on offer is a study of the associated production of the J/psi meson with another heavy quarkonium state -- a Upsilon meson or another J/psi -- in the intermediate invariant mass range optimised for the study of transverse-momentum-depemdednt (TMD) distribution of gluons inside the colliding protons. This will use the full statistics accumulated during Runs 2 and 3 of the LHC, and builds on the ongoing investigation of the J/psi plus photon final state, which uses a fraction of LHC Run 2 data. The project will involve an investigation of the selection efficiency of various triggers operating in ATLAS, optimisation of event selection, separation of the signal process from various backgrounds, and the measurement of the parameters of the transverse momentum dependence of the di-quarkonium system.

Please contact Professor Vakhtang Kartvelishvili for further information. Students interested in this PhD project should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Dr Ian Bailey

Description

In recent years there has been a growing interest in very low mass exotic particles which may form some or all of the dark matter in the Universe. Two well-motivated examples are ‘dark photons’ and ‘axions’. ‘Dark photons’ are hypothetical photon-like gauge bosons which don’t couple to electric charge, and hence do not interact directly with normal matter. ‘Axions’ are hypothetical scalar particles postulated in the 1970's as a solution to the “strong CP” problem – one of the unsolved puzzles in our understanding of particle physics.

If dark photons (also know as hidden-sector photons) exist then they could convert into photons through a process called kinetic mixing, allowing photons to produce dark photons and vice versa. Similarly, axions could be converted back and forth into photons in the presence of a strong electromagnetic field. Terrestrially, these phenomena can be used as the basis of 'light dark matter haloscopes' built to search for the existence of these exotic particles in the dark matter halo through which the Earth is moving.

The QSHS (Quantum Sensors for the Hidden Sector) collaboration in the UK is developing quantum technologies to boost the sensitivity of experiments looking for these phenomena, and is designing a future light dark matter haloscope which can use these technologies optimally.

The student on this project would be a member of the QSHS collaboration and would contribute to the search for light dark matter haloscopes by developing electromagnetic field simulations, analysing the data from prototypes, and assisting with the construction, commissioning and operation of a quantum technology test facility at Sheffield University. There is also scope to set up an experiment locally at Lancaster University collaborating with the low temperature physics and quantum nanotechnology research groups. In addition there will be opportunities to work with the US-based ADMX axion haloscope collaboration who are the current world-leaders in axion dark matter searches. There are experimental, computational and theoretical aspects of this project, but the proportion of these aspects can be tailored to the student's interests.

Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics. Students interested in this PhD studentship should apply via the Lancaster University admission system.

Please contact Dr Ian Bailey for further information.

Supervisors

Dr Lingxin Meng, Dr Harald Fox

Description

Future particle experiments will impose extreme requirements on their tracking detectors, taking today's silicon sensor technology to the very limit. To extend the physics reach of the LHC for example, upgrades to the accelerator are planned that will increase the peak luminosity by a factor 5 to 10. This will lead to much-increased occupancy and radiation damage of the sub-detectors, requiring the exchange of the current inner trackers with all-silicon ones.

Lancaster has a long-standing tradition of silicon detector R&D in CERN's RD50 collaboration and is now focusing on R&D for future pixel detectors – the innermost sub-detector of particle physics experiments and thus exposed to the harshest conditions.

Possible PhD projects would include irradiation and characterisation of planar pixel sensors, which are being produced for LHC detector upgrades like ATLAS.

Beyond those, the PhD project may also involve the characterisation of novel HV-CMOS pixel sensors which promise very good radiation tolerance while being extremely lightweight and cost-efficient. These are considered the baseline choice for the upgrades of LHCb and other experiments like EIC, as well as future collider experiments. The first large-area prototype chip has been received from the foundry. Initial tests of this chip have begun. Results and in-depths characterisations are eagerly awaited by the community and could be part of the PhD project.

Students interested in this PhD project should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics. The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Dr Andy Blake

Project description

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation High Energy Physics experiment for neutrino science and nucleon decay searches. Hosted by the Fermi Laboratory, DUNE is an international collaboration of more than 1000 scientists from all over the world. Once operational at the end of the decade, DUNE will consist of two detector facilities placed 1300km apart in the world’s most powerful accelerator neutrino beam. The near detector complex will measure the spectrum and composition of the beam close to its source; the multi-kiloton far detector array will operate a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility and measure a range of neutrino oscillation phenomena. With its large fiducial mass and precision Liquid Argon TPC technology, DUNE will advance the field of neutrino oscillation physics into a new era and conduct searches for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). The superb imaging capabilities of LAr-TPC detectors enable neutrino interactions to be captured with exquisite detail. At Lancaster University, we are developing advanced software to reconstruct the complex multi-particle event topologies produced by multi-GeV neutrino interactions on Argon. In this PhD research project, you will apply techniques of machine learning to the analysis of LAr-TPC images, with the goal of precisely measuring the trajectories and properties of final-state particle tracks. Building on this work, you will use computer-simulated data from the far detectors to evaluate and optimise the discovery potential of DUNE to BSM oscillation phenomena. A long-term attachment at an international laboratory such as Fermilab may be possible with this project.

Please contact Dr Andrew Blake for more information about this research programme. Students interested in this PhD project should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Professor Jarek Nowak

Project description

Precise measurements of neutrino cross-sections are essential for understanding the physics of neutrino interactions and achieving the reductions of systematic uncertainties required by future long-baseline experiments that will study CP violation in the neutrino sector. Over the past decade, cross-section measurements from a range of experiments (MiniBooNE, NOMAD, NOvA, MINERvA, T2K, MicroBooNE) have advanced our understanding of neutrino interactions and opened several new avenues of research. In particular, the discovery of a new process (MEC, 2p-2h) has generated a paradigm shift in treating nuclear effects. This PhD project will focus on cross-section measurements at the Fermilab short-baseline neutrino programme, where the fine-grain resolution, high-statistics datasets, and large liquid argon detectors like MicroBooNE and SBND are enabling precision studies of neutrino-argon interactions in the GeV energy range. Several PhD projects are available: the Lancaster group is involved in many cross-section analyses and is leading the development of detailed simulations like the NuWro Monte Carlo generator. Our PhD students typically have the opportunity to spend about one year at the Fermi Laboratory collaborating on the collection and analysis of their data.

Please contact Professor Jarek Nowak for further information. Students interested in this PhD studentship should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Dr Andy Blake

Project description

The standard model of particle physics accommodates three active flavours of neutrino, which interact via the weak nuclear force. In recent years, experimental observations have hinted at a new type of sterile neutrino beyond the current standard model. If confirmed, this would be a major discovery and would fundamentally alter our understanding of neutrino physics.

The short-baseline neutrino programme at the Fermi Laboratory in the USA will conduct a multi-detector search for sterile neutrinos using a powerful accelerator neutrino beam and an array of large Liquid Argon TPC detectors. LAr-TPC technology can measure neutrino interactions with an exquisite spatial and calorimetric resolution, which is crucial for precision searches for neutrino oscillation phenomena. The Lancaster group is heavily involved in commissioning the Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND) and is contributing to a range of analysis activities, including developing advanced algorithms for reconstructing the properties of neutrino interactions.

The goal of this PhD project is to collaborate on the commissioning of the SBND detector as it comes online and to use the data from the short-baseline programme to search for the signatures of sterile neutrinos and other phenomena beyond the standard model. This project offers an excellent opportunity to experience all aspects of a particle physics experiment, from commissioning to physics analysis. Our students typically spend a significant period working onsite at Fermilab.

Please contact Dr Andrew Blake for further information. Students interested in this PhD studentship should apply via the Lancaster University admission system. Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics.

The Lancaster Physics Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award and JUNO Champion status and is strongly committed to fostering inclusion and diversity within its community.

Supervisor

Dr Ian Bailey

Description

Measurements of the electric and magnetic moments of fundamental particles are sensitive tests of the whole Standard Model of particle physics. Recent results from the US-based Fermilab Muon g-2 collaboration have confirmed that the magnetic dipole moment (MDM) of the muon is statistically very unlikely to be in agreement with the prediction from the Standard Model of particle physics, although more data is needed. This is a strong indication that ‘new physics’ (unknown particles or forces) could be perturbing the magnetic moment. The Fermilab Muon g-2 collaboration is continuing to take data, using muons with the “magic” momentum 3.094 GeV/c circulating at a radius of 7.112 m in a highly-uniform toroidal magnetic field of nominal strength 1.451 T.

The Fermilab muon g-2 experiment is also making measurements of the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the muon, but is not as optimal for this measurement. The Swiss-based PSI muon EDM collaboration is working on the design of an experiment that will be dedicated to measuring the muon EDM using a small muon storage ring and the "frozen-spin" technique.

The student working on this project would become a member of the Cockroft Institute of Accelerator Science and Technology, and will be able to contribute to both the ongoing Fermilab muon g-2 experiment and proposed PSI muon EDM experiment by developing and analysing beam dynamics simulations for understanding the subtle behaviours of the muons in the electric and magnetic fields of these experiments, and by analysing the data to make measurements of the muon electric and magnetic dipole moments.

Applicants are normally expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics. Students interested in this PhD studentship should apply via the Lancaster University admission system.

Funding is available on a competitive basis.

Please contact Dr Ian Bailey for further information.

Supervisor

Professor Steven Jamison

Description

Lancaster Physics department and partners in the Cockcroft Institute are world-leading in the use of femtosecond lasers and non-linear optics for manipulating electron beams. This project will use femtosecond lasers to compress 100 keV electron beams to tens of femtoseconds in duration (it takes light 300fs to cross the width of a hair). Having demonstrated compression of electron beam, time-resolved electron diffraction will be undertaken to observe coherent phonon motion in solids. The work will be undertaken with femtosecond lasers and 100keV electron beams available in our lab at Daresbury National Laboratory.

We welcome applications from students holding or expecting a 1^st or 2i physics degree. We particularly encourage applicants with an interest in cross-disciplinary experimental physics.

The project encompassed lasers and ultrafast optics, condensed matter physics, electromagnetism and electron-dynamics. We do not require or expect candidates to have taken undergraduate courses in all of these areas. The Cockcroft Institute postgraduate lecture programme in particle accelerator science and engineering will be part of the PhD training offered to students.

For more information contact Professor Steven Jamison or visit Laser and terahertz acceleration group

Supervisor

Professor Steven Jamison

Description

Lancaster Physics is leading a UK-wide research programme in laser-plasma acceleration utilizing high-energy particle accelerator and laser facilities at Daresbury National Laboratory.

Within this programme, a PhD is offered to work on using intense lasers and non-linear optics to accelerate and compress high energy (>100 MeV) electron beams, and enabling injection of the electrons into a GeV-level laser-plasma acceleration stage.

The student will develop and undertake experiments where terawatt (10¹² W) laser pulses will first generate high-field far-infrared pulses, and then these pulses will accelerate and compress the 100 MeV electron beams. Working with other researchers from Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford universities, and Daresbury laboratory scientists and engineers, you will work to see the compressed electron bunch injected and accelerated to GeV energies. The programme seeks to set a new benchmark in the capability of high-gradient particle acceleration.

We welcome applications from students holding or expecting a 1^st or 2i physics degree.

The project encompasses lasers and ultrafast and non-linear optics, electromagnetism and relativity, and electron-beam dynamics. We do not require or expect candidates to have taken undergraduate courses in all of these areas. The Cockcroft Institute postgraduate lecture programme in particle accelerator science and engineering will be part of the PhD training offered to students.

For more information contact Professor Steven Jamison or visit Laser and terahertz acceleration group

Supervisors

Dr Jonathan Gratus (Lancaster University, Physics) and Professor Graeme Burt (Lancaster University, Engineering)

Description

Particle-in-cell (PIC) codes are essential for the numerical simulation of charged particles in both conventional accelerators and plasmas. They are used extensively for understanding the physics and design of future machines. A typical code may have to track billions of particles and may need to run on high-performance computer clusters.

We are investigating a revolutionary new method which promises to dramatically reduce the computation needed for simulations. This method increases the dynamical information of each particle while reducing the total number of particles.

To aid in this task we need an enthusiastic PhD student to incorporate the new dynamical equations into existing PIC codes and compare the results with standard simulations.

The student will become a member of the Cockcroft Institute and will participate in the Cockcroft Institute Education and Training Programme, whereby they will participate in a lecture programme over the first 2 years of study in addition to their work on their project. The candidate should have at least a 2:1 or equivalent in maths, physics or engineering and have a solid understanding of mathematical concepts and theory. However, applicants who have gained experience in relevant fields through non-traditional routes are strongly encouraged to apply. We welcome applications from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, candidates who are in the first generation of their family to go to university, candidates who have been in care or who have been a young carer, and candidates from a low-income background

Funding and eligibility: This studentship is competitively funded. Upon acceptance of a student, this project will be funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council for 3.5 years; UK and other students are eligible to apply, although overseas students may be required to secure additional funding. A full package of training and support will be provided by the Cockcroft Institute, and the student will take part in a vibrant accelerator research and education community of over 150 people. An IELTS score of at least 6.5 is required (or equivalent).

Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Jonathan Gratus (j.gratus@lancaster.ac.uk) for more information.

How to apply

Cockcroft Institute, PhD-opportunities

Lancaster University PhD opportunities

Anticipated Start Date: October 2024 for 3.5 Years

Supervisor

Dr Rstislav Mikhaylovskiy

Description

Finding a fundamentally new way for data processing in the fastest and most energy efficient manner is a frontier problem for applied physics and technology. The amount of data generated every second is so enormous that the heat produced by modern data centres has already become a serious limitation to further increase their performance. This heating is a result of the Ohmic dissipation of energy unavoidable in conventional electronics. At present, the data industry lacks a solution for this problem, which in future may contribute greatly to the global warming and energy crisis.

An emerging alternative approach is to employ spin waves (magnons) to realize waveform-based computation, which is free from electronic Joule heating. However, the present realization of this approach, called magnonics, uses electric currents to generate and modulate magnons. In the course of this PhD project we will work towards replacement of the current by light using antiferromagnetic materials, in which spins precess on a picosecond (one trillionth of a second) timescale and strongly couple to electro-magnetic waves [1]. Yet, the antiferromagnetic THz (1 THz = 10¹² Hz) magnons remain practically unexplored [2].

To excite THz magnons we will use ultrashort strong electro-magnetic fields produced either by table-top ultrafast lasers. We will push the driven spin dynamics into strongly nonlinear regime required for practical applications such as quantum computation or magnetization switching [3]. We will investigate nonlinear interaction of intense and highly coherent magnons with an eye on reaching regimes of auto-oscillations, nonlinear frequency conversion and complete magnetization reversal [4].

This interdisciplinary project at the interface between magnetism and photonics offers training in ultrafast optics, THz and magneto-optical spectroscopies as well as in physics of magnetically ordered materials. Also, there will be opportunities for travel and experiments using THz free-electron laser facilities such as FELIX (Nijmegen, Netherlands) and TELBE (Dresden, Germany).

Interested candidates should contact Dr Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy r.mikhaylovskiy@lancaster.ac.uk for further information. Funding is available on a competitive basis.

[1]. K. Grishunin , T. Huisman, G. Li, E. Mishina, Th. Rasing, A. V. Kimel, K. Zhang, Z. Jin, S. Cao, W. Ren , G.-H. Ma and R. V. Mikhaylovskiy. Terahertz magnon-polaritons in TmFeO₃. ACS Photonics 5, 1375 (2018).

[2]. J. R. Hortensius, D. Afanasiev, M. Matthiesen, R. Leenders, R. Citro, A. V. Kimel, R. V. Mikhaylovskiy, B. A. Ivanov & A. D. Caviglia. Coherent spin-wave transport in an antiferromagnet. Nature Physics 17, 1001 (2021).

[3]. S. Baierl, M. Hohenleutner, T. Kampfrath, A. K. Zvezdin, A. V. Kimel, R. Huber, and R. V. Mikhaylovskiy. Nonlinear spin control by terahertz driven anisotropy fields. Nature Photonics 10, 715 (2016).

[4] S. Schlauderer, C. Lange, S. Baierl, T. Ebnet, C. P. Schmid, D. C. Valovcin, A. K. Zvezdin, A. V. Kimel, R. V. Mikhaylovskiy and R. Huber. Temporal and spectral fingerprints of ultrafast all-coherent spin switching. Nature 569, 383 (2019).

Supervisor

Professor Edward Laird

Description

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful and non-invasive technique for looking inside the human body. If we could make a microscope that works on the same principle, we would be able to do something that is presently impossible – to look inside cells, viruses, and potentially even individual molecules and identify the atoms from which they are made. Unfortunately, MRI machines cannot simply be made smaller, because as their radio antennas are shrunk they become less sensitive. For this reason, the resolution of conventional MRI is still far below that of other kinds of microscope.

To develop an MRI microscope, we need to develop a new kind of device that measures the same effect with much higher resolution. Such an approach is magnetic resonance force microscopy. In this technique, a tiny nano-magnet is attached to a delicate mechanical spring and positioned as close as possible to the specimen being measured. As the nuclei in the specimen precess, their magnetic field deflects the nano-magnet, thus creating a measurable signal.

To construct a microscope based on this principle is still a formidable challenge. For each nucleus in the specimen, the force exerted on the nano-magnet is roughly one zepto-Newton. We aim to detect such a force by using the lightest, most delicate spring that can be fabricated – a single carbon nanotube. This project will develop nanotube force sensors and the associated quantum electronics to measure them. The two central physics challenges are to attach a nano-magnet to a nanotube spring and to measure its tiny deflection. To overcome them, we seek highly motivated graduates in physics or related fields with curiosity, grit, and a passion for making new discoveries through experiment.

We have a strong track record of high-profile publications by PhD students. We have access to excellent facilities for nanofabrication, electronics, and low-temperature measurement. These include:

• The state-of-the-art cleanroom of Lancaster’s Quantum Technology Centre.
• New cryogen-free dilution refrigerators optimised for high-speed quantum electronics and equipped with ultra-sensitive superconducting amplifiers.
• Extensive collaborations with low-temperature and quantum physicists in Lancaster and beyond.

Within this project, you will work in the Low Temperature Physics and Quantum Nanotechnology groups at Lancaster. You will receive a thorough training, supported by state-of-the art equipment, in quantum electronics, low-temperature physics, nanofabrication, and scientific communication. Through your research in this project, you will have the opportunity to contribute to a physics-based technology with profound potential in materials science and biology.

Further information: The quantum electronic sensors group

Supervisor

Professor Edward Laird

Description

Superfluidity is among the most fascinating manifestations of collective quantum behaviour. Many behaviours that appear fundamental to our universe, such as gauge invariance and the Higgs mechanism, have emergent analogues in the superfluid. Other superfluid features mimic important properties of condensed matter, such as topological defects; others may even simulate the interiors of neutron stars, or the early universe.

Like all quantum systems, a superfluid is fundamentally characterised by its excitations, or quasiparticles. A powerful way to study these quasiparticles is to immerse a vibrating wire inside the superfluid; its mechanical damping reveals the amount of energy deposited in the superfluid, and therefore tells us about the quasiparticles that have been created.

We are developing tools to measure superfluids on the mesoscopic scale, i.e. between the size of atoms and the scale of the superfluid coherence length. Our plan is to use the smallest vibrating wires that can be created, namely vibrating carbon nanotubes. Because they are so small, they can respond to tiny damping forces. We can also measure them using quantum electronic circuits, which lets us detect their motion with high sensitivity.

In this project, we will first study the bosonic superfluid ⁴He, whose quasiparticles are phonons and rotons. We will then study the fermionic superfluid ³He, whose quasiparticles are more exotic. Our aim is to learn how we can create different kinds of quasiparticles by changing the size and vibration frequency of our nanotube.

We have a strong track record of high-profile publications by PhD students. We have access to excellent facilities for nanofabrication, electronics, and low-temperature measurement. You will receive a thorough training, supported by state-of-the art equipment, in quantum electronics, low-temperature physics, nanofabrication, and scientific communication. Our facilities include:

• The state-of-the-art cleanroom of Lancaster’s Quantum Technology Centre.
• New cryogen-free dilution refrigerators optimised for high-speed quantum electronics and equipped with ultra-sensitive superconducting amplifiers and superfluid sample cells.
• Nuclear demagnetisation refrigerators that can access some of the coldest temperatures in the universe.
• Extensive collaborations with low-temperature and quantum physicists in Lancaster and beyond.

Through your research in this project, you will have the opportunity to contribute to a physics-based technology with profound potential in materials science and biology.

Further information: The quantum electronic sensors group

Supervisor

Professor Edward Laird

Description

Atomic clocks are the most precise scientific instruments ever made, and are key to advanced technologies for navigation, communication, and radar. The most accurate atomic clocks cost millions of pounds and take up entire rooms, but an important goal for this research field is to develop miniature, portable clocks. This is a major challenge for quantum science and technology.

This PhD project will pursue a new approach to create a clock that will fit on a chip. Present-day atomic clocks are based on atomic vapours confined in a vacuum chamber. Our new approach is to use electron and nuclear spins in endohedral fullerene molecules – nature’s atom traps – whose energy levels offer an exquisitely stable frequency reference. To make this novel approach work, we must overcome a range of physics and engineering challenges, including detecting spin resonance from a small number of spins, identifying the energy levels involved, and miniaturizing the control electronics and magnet. The reward will be a completely new technology with a wide range of civilian and military uses. We are looking for a candidate who has a strong interest in applying quantum physics in new technology and is motivated to develop the new and demanding electronic measurement techniques that will be necessary.

Further information:

• The quantum electronic sensors group
• “Keeping Perfect Time With Caged Atoms”
• “Spin resonance clock transition of the endohedral fullerene ¹⁵N@C60”

Supervisor

Dr Michael Thompson

Description

There is a growing demand for electronic components that operate are cryogenic temperatures, from analogue amplifiers to digital control circuits for quantum computing. Existing electronic components are manufactured using semiconductors, mostly silicon, that either don’t work at all, or work poorly at very low temperatures. Two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, have been used for building transistors and even more complex components, with comparable performance to existing semiconductors. However, unlike existing semiconductor components, these materials continue to function as well, if not better, at very low temperatures. The aim of this project is to build cryogenic electronics using these 2D materials, in particular, using commercially available wafer-scale graphene to build analogue amplifiers.

This project will make use of Lancaster’s cleanroom for fabrication and the IsoLab facility for device characterisation. IsoLab is equipped with a dilution refrigerator capable of cooling devices down to 10 mK and is housed inside an electromagnetically shielded room. The filtered mains circuits and dedicated ground nest make this facility the ideal location for testing low-noise cryogenic electronics.

For this project, a student will learn to fabricate nanoelectronic devices using both 2D materials and semiconductors and characterisation of these inside a cryogenic refrigerator. This work is closely linked to existing collaborations with the National Graphene Institute in Manchester and the European Microkelvin Platform project and the student will have the opportunity to engage with these collaborations.

You are expected to have a strong interest and preferably knowledge in:

electrical measurements of nanoscale devices

cryogenic techniques

nanofabrication

data acquisition using Python or similar

Supervisor

Dr Jonathan Prance

Description

The ability to cool materials to millikelvin temperatures has been the foundation of many breakthroughs in condensed matter physics and nanotechnology. At this frontier, quantum behaviour can be studied by making devices smaller and colder, increasing coherence across the system. The goal of this project is to apply a new technique – on-chip demagnetisation refrigeration – to reach temperatures below 1 millikelvin in a range of nanoelectronic structures. This will open a new temperature range for nanoscale physics.

As experiments are pushed into the sub-millikelvin regime, it becomes increasingly difficult to measure and define the temperature of a material or device. The thermal coupling between various sub-systems in can be extremely small; for example, the electrons in the metal wires contacting an on-chip structure can be at a different temperature to the electrons in the chip, the phonons in the chip, and the apparatus that you are using to cool it. This situation calls for a variety of thermometry techniques, each suited to measuring the temperature of a different physical system. The thermometers must also have extremely low heat dissipation and excellent isolation from the room temperature environment. This project will include the development of new and existing thermometry techniques that are suitable for sub-millikelvin temperatures.

Devices will be produced in the Lancaster Quantum Technology Centre cleanroom, and by our collaborators. Experiments will be conducted using the cutting-edge facilities of the Ultralow Temperature Physics group at Lancaster.

You are expected to have a strong interest in and preferably knowledge of:

• electrical measurements of nanoscale devices
• cryogenic techniques
• nanofabrication
• data acquisition using Python or MatLab

Supervisor

Dr Dmitry Zmeev

Description

The project is to create and perform experiments with new types of superconducting probes for quantum liquids: precisely controllable levitators working at sub-millikelvin temperatures. Recently we have made a significant progress in the development of these instruments and we will explore several outstanding problems.

Firstly, pinning and nucleation of quantum vortices in superfluid helium-4. Currently, there are two contradictory pictures of how quantum vortices attach (‘pin’) to surfaces and how it affects their motion. A levitating sphere offers a new type of experimental topology and has the power to resolve this issue.

Secondly, the question of existence of a lift force in a superfluid remains open. We will build a hydrofoil, move it through superfluid and observe whether the lift exists.

Thirdly, the surface-bound states in superfluid helium-3, the coldest liquid in the Universe, at microkelvin temperatures represent a largely unexplored physical system with potentially extremely unusual properties. We have recently demonstrated how to probe this system by driving it out of equilibrium, and the new instruments promise to enhance our capabilities.

Supervisor

Dr Michael Thompson

Description

Josephson junctions are a key component in superconducting electronics and are used in superconducting qubits, superconducting quantum interference devices, Josephson parametric amplifiers and many more. Junctions formed with graphene can have their critical current tuned using a local gate, creating junctions whose properties can be varied during operation. This has the potential to enhance existing technologies or open up possibilities for creating entirely new devices.

While such junctions have already been demonstrated, these use exfoliated graphene flakes, which is not a scalable technology and makes implementation of these junctions impractical for applications outside of fundamental research. Graphene is available in large areas, grown by chemical vapour deposition and while the quality is not as high as exfoliated flakes, it is possible to make junctions using this material. This opens up the opportunity for building superconducting electronics with tunable junctions at scale. This project aims to develop a process for fabricating graphene-superconductor junctions with low resistance contacts using CVD graphene and once established, design and build electronics devices.

This project will make use of Lancaster’s cleanroom for fabrication and the IsoLab facility for device characterisation. IsoLab is equipped with a dilution refrigerator capable of cooling devices down to 10 mK and is housed inside an electromagnetically shielded room. The filtered mains circuits and dedicated ground nest make this facility the ideal location for testing low-noise cryogenic electronics. For this project, a student will learn to fabricate nanoelectronic devices using 2D materials and characterisation of these inside a cryogenic refrigerator.

You are expected to have a strong interest in:

• electrical measurements of nanoscale devices
• cryogenic techniques
• nanofabrication
• data acquisition using Python or similar

Supervisor

Dr Samuli Autti

Description

In this PhD project, the student will work as a member of the QUEST-DMC team in Lancaster, based in the ULT laboratory. The project entails constructing and using magnetic confinement to study superfluid 3He at ultra-low temperatures. Superfluid 3He is perhaps the most versatile macroscopic quantum system in the laboratory, and this project will have direct consequences for seemingly distant fields such as particle physics and cosmology. The aim is to show that a first order phase transition can take place in the absence of external influence and that this process is described by the elusive homogeneous nucleation theory. This would redefine how we understand phase transitions in pure systems such as the Early Universe, where such a phase transition possibly left behind gravitational waves that a specialist satellite mission may still be able to observe. The work done will simultaneously technologically contribute towards using the superfluid as a dark matter detector in a large inter-university project in the UK.

Supervisor

Professor Aneta Stefanovska

Description

Neurovascular coupling is essential for the functioning of the brain. Recent studies show that its efficiency changes with ageing or dementia. However, a plausible model of the interactions between the vasculature, astrocytes, and the neurons in the brain is still missing. Current models are mainly based on linear approaches and use a large number of differential equations to describe flows and concentrations of metabolites in relevant compartments of the brain. Such models are based on closed-system assumptions and focus on relationships between magnitudes of physical quantities involved.

This project will investigate the potential advantages of models based on networks of phase oscillators that do not include any closed-system assumptions. Coupled nonautonomous phase oscillators will be used to represent the metabolic processes occurring within brain cells. Within the context of the model to be developed, the interactions between astrocytes and neurons and their changes with ageing and dementia, will be investigated. The modelling will be tested by comparison with recent experimental studies in healthy subjects of different ages, as well as with studies in subjects with Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics, natural sciences, or computational neuroscience.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information.

Supervisor

Professor Aneta Stefanovska

Description

The lungs and the heart can be perceived as a pair of coupled oscillators. One of the coupling pathways is relatively well understood and results in variations in the frequency of the heart beat caused by the amplitude of respiration. It is known as respiratory sinus arrythmia. The coupling mechanism is also known in physics as amplitude-to-frequency coupling. The resultant variation of the heart rate has mainly been studied within the framework of random walks in statistical physics. Here we propose an approach to the problem based on non-autonomous dynamics.

To investigate possible coupling mechanisms, data-sets recorded in various earlier studies by the group will be utilised. Data from both the awake and anaesthetised states, and at various ambient temperatures in the awake state, will be used to investigate all possible coupling scenarios. The results will then be used to build a model of cardio-respiratory interactions as coupled non-autonomous oscillators. In formulating the model, mechanisms such as intermittent synchronization will be considered and phase-reduction methods will be applied. We will seek to develop analytically the link between theoretical phase reduction methods for time-variable systems with phases assigned by e.g. the wavelet transform (as extracted via ridges or nonlinear mode decomposition). From here, we will then apply data analysis methods to numerical simulations of systems exhibiting the various finite-time-dynamical phenomena that will be uncovered from the data, to determine the couplings, for which we will then provide a theoretical formulation.

The model will be used to optimise the level of cardio-respiratory interactions in subjects with assisted respiration, e.g. due to asthma, or in subjects with tetraplegia. The final result of the project will be an algorithm that may be built into a system being developed by our industrial partner.

During the project the student will learn time-series analysis methods for nonlinear, nonautonomous systems, theory of oscillatory nonautonomous systems and become familiar with the physiology of the cardio-respiratory system. The potential outcome of the project will be an algorithm that may be used in practical applications, with potential to improve the quality of life for many individuals. It is suitable for candidates with a strong theoretical background that seek to be challenged by a real-world application and to make a practical impact.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics or natural sciences, or the equivalent.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information.

Supervisor

Professor Aneta Stefanovska

Description

By bringing together optics, modern computational facilities, the growing understanding of nonlinear oscillators and their mutual interactions, and wireless connectivity, it is planned to create a novel diagnostic instrument to determine the health of the human endothelium – the inner lining of all the blood vessels, and essential for our immune system. In each individual, the endothelium occupies an area equal to a football pitch making it a major organ of the body. It orchestrates the dynamics of blood circulation including the continuous distribution and exchange of nutrients and oxygen with all the cells of the body and the removal of waste products. Recently, the state of health of the endothelium has been shown to play a crucial role in determining the severity of Covid-19. Although the condition of the endothelium is of crucial importance for general health and the immune response, it has been extremely difficult to measure up to now. So, the new “endotheliometer” is likely to be valuable to GPs and other health professionals.

This interdisciplinary project will be based on novel methods for data analysis developed at Lancaster now available in the MODA toolbox https://github.com/luphysics/MODA.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics, natural sciences, or biomedical engineering.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information.

Supervisor

Professor Aneta Stefanovska

Description

The famous Hodgkin-Huxley model describes an action potential in the axon of a neurone. It is an excellent example of how, by combining experiment and theory, physics can help resolve important questions in biology. It is arguably still the most realistic model of a living system. However, it assumes that the voltage across the membrane is constant, and to fulfil this condition in the experiments the voltage was clamped. In reality, however, the voltage fluctuates continuously in living cells, and the physics behind the fluctuations of the membrane potential therefore needs to be revisited. Recent advances in technology now enable the simultaneous recording of ionic concentrations, pH, cell volume, and production of the ATP that fuels the operation of ion pumps in the membrane.

This project aims to propose a new physics of the living cell by combining the experimental data obtained from simultaneous measurements, time-series analysis using novel methods developed at Lancaster now available in the MODA toolbox https://github.com/luphysics/MODA, and the new physics of nonautonomous dynamical systems. Phase coherence and synchronisation will be analysed to assess the stability of interactions, to characterise the normal and dysfunctional states a cell, and to build the new model.

The model will help integrate existing biological knowledge about individual components of the cell. It will provide unifying principles of functioning for both excitable and none-executable cells, and will thus pave new ways to modelling the brain in health and disease.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics, natural sciences, or computational biology.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information

Supervisors

Professor Aneta Stefanovska

Dr Dmitry Zmeev

Professor Peter McClintock

Description

Turbulence is ubiquitous in the real world and affects almost every aspect of our daily lives, including transport, energy production, climate, and biological processes. Despite its universal importance, turbulence is not well understood. Richard Feynman called it the "most important unsolved problem of classical physics". Turbulence is hard to understand at a fundamental level because of the complexity of turbulent motion of the fluid over an extremely wide range of length scales. Quantum mechanics often makes complex problems conceptually simpler, and quantum turbulence (QT) in superfluids is a prime example. At low temperatures, superfluids are the closest attainable approximation to an ideal fluid in that they can flow without friction, are (almost) incompressible, and their vortices are quantised, making all of them identical. Like classical turbulence, QT is a non-equilibrium phenomenon: remove the driving force, and it decays – though perhaps not completely in superfluid ⁴He due to residual quantised vortices pinned metastably to the walls. The creation of QT in the superfluid usually seems to be "seeded" by such remanent vortices.

An experiment is being developed to investigate the creation and expansion of QT in superfluid ⁴He held within a pill-box shaped vessel fixed to a high-Q torsional oscillator at millikelvin temperatures. Tiny changes in the oscillator’s resonant frequency and damping will yield information about remanent vortices, the pinning of their ends to the vessel’s walls, and the critical velocities needed for their expansion and creation of QT. In a second experiment, a levitated superconducting sphere will be moved in a controlled way through the superfluid to explore the mechanisms of QT creation in even closer detail.

These experiments will produce a vast profusion of data, which will require detailed analysis by state-of-the-art methods of analysis for turbulent and non-autonomous dynamics, and methods to extract information about the QT. The student can contribute to all aspects of this collaborative research project, but will be expected to take a particular responsibility for data analysis. The methods which they will learn, develop and apply will also have very wide applications across science, technology, finance and the social sciences. The enterprise is supported by a new £1.2M research grant from EPSRC.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics or natural sciences, or the equivalent.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information.

Supervisors

Professor Aneta Stefanovska

Professor Peter McClintock

Description

The electron system that can be created on the surface of superfluid helium has some remarkable properties. The electrons can move freely, without dissipation, over the interface between the vacuum above and a surface that is almost perfect. Recently, it has been shown that, under the right conditions, this system exhibits chronotaxic dynamics – a phenomenon previously associated exclusively with biological systems.

The identification of this new class of non-autonomous oscillatory dynamical systems by the Lancaster group represented a major advance in the understanding of time-varying dynamics. These are oscillators whose characteristic frequencies vary in time, in contrast to e.g. the simple pendulum and many other familiar physical oscillators. Chronotaxic systems can be regarded as one manifestation of the thermodynamically open systems that abound in nature, and especially in biology. In collaboration with scientists at Riken in Japan, we have identified chronotaxic behaviour of the currents recorded for the electron gas on the superfluid surface.

The aim of this PhD research project is to explain the physical origin of the oscillations of variable frequency observed in the experiments, and to provide a theoretical model of the experimental results, thus expanding and generalising the theory of chronotaxic non-autonomous dynamical systems and linking it to quantum computing.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics or natural sciences, or the equivalent.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information.

Supervisors

Professor Aneta Stefanovska, Physics

Dr Suzana Ilic, Environmental Science

Professor Peter McClintock, Physics

Description

Occasionally, rogue waves – with wave heights much larger than those of their neighbours – appear on the ocean and can sometimes overwhelm even the largest vessels e.g. supertankers. Their origins are still a mystery, but a theory suggesting that their creation mechanism involves nonlinear interactions between smaller, conventional, usually wind-blown, surface waves is the best candidate to explain their formation. To seek experimental evidence in order to test this idea, experiments have been carried out in the Marintek wave basin in Trondheim, Norway. The result is a large volume of time series data, some of which shows clear evidence of rogue waves, but which has yet to be analysed. The PhD project is to analyse the Marintek data using state-of-the-art time-series analysis methods, many of which have been developed at Lancaster and are available in MODA toolbox https://github.com/luphysics/MODA in order to investigate the hydrodynamic conditions under which rogue waves are created. In particular, evidence will be sought for the growth of rogue waves through nonlinear mutual phase interactions between smaller waves. It is a challenging problem involving spatio-temporal dynamics, but it is clear that the results could be extremely important.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics or natural sciences, or the equivalent.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information.

Supervisors

Professor Aneta Stefanovska

Professor Peter McClintock

Dr Dmitri Luchinsky

Description

For a billion years, life has been crucially dependent on ion channels for selective control of the fluxes of ions into and out of biological cells, with evolution fine-tuning each kind of channel to be optimal in its particular role. Very recently, humans have fabricated artificial channels and pores from solid state materials, aiming to emulate and extend many of the functions of biological channels in more robust formats. A whole new sub-nanoscale technology has started to develop, with applications to e.g. fuel cells, water desalination, gas and isotope separation, lithium extraction, DNA sequencing, water pumps, field effect ionic transistors, and “blue energy” harvesting.

Not surprisingly, artificial channels are still, in general, much less efficient than biological ones. For example, they are less selective to particular ionic species and the fluxes they pass tend to be smaller. They are difficult to design, partly because there is still no satisfactory general theory of how an ion permeates through a channel. Hence design usually relies on experiments and heavy-duty molecular dynamics simulations, coupled with trial-and-error – which is slow, and therefore inefficient and expensive, because the parameter space is huge.

We therefore propose a different approach, building on our 2015 discovery of Coulomb blockade in biological ion channels, on our new statistical physics theory of the ionic permeation process, and on our recent and ongoing numerical simulations of pores and channels in artificial membranes. There is probably a great deal to learn from how Nature has “designed” biological channels through evolution over hundreds of millions of years, so that biomimetic approaches are likely to be useful in the understanding and design of artificial channels.

The aims of the project are to develop theory and numerical tools that enable the prediction and control of free energy landscapes, selectivity and conductivity of artificial nanodevices. These methods will be applied to the design and optimization of nano-pumps, nano-sensors, and energy-harvesting nanodevices. It is expected that the successful applicant will use molecular dynamics and Brownian dynamics simulations to verify and validate the results obtained.

We are looking for a student with enthusiasm for theoretical physics and with some prior experience of computational and numerical work.

The applicant will be expected to have a first or upper second-class degree in physics, applied mathematics or natural sciences, or the equivalent.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Aneta Stefanovska for further information.

Supervisor

Dr Quian Zhuang

Description

The project will develop advanced III-V nanowires on silicon and 2D materials by molecular beam epitaxy and explore the device applications in next-generation photodetectors, fully-functional silicon photonic circuits, ultra-fast nanoelectronics and spitronics.

Supervisor

Professor Manus Hayne

Project

Computers are based on the von Neumann architecture in which the processing and memory unit are largely separated, requiring information to be shuffled to and fro, which is inefficient and creates a bottleneck. This is particularly disadvantageous for activities that are memory intensive, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

An alternative is in-memory computing [1, 2], in which certain algorithms are performed within the memory unit. This is less flexible than the traditional von Neumann approach, but has huge potential in terms of computational time and energy saved for memory intensive tasks involving operations that are performed huge numbers of times. These could be common logical functions such as AND and OR, or matrix-vector multiplications which comprise between 70% and 90 % of the deep-learning operations in speech, language and vision recognition [2]. Many conventional and emerging memory technologies have been investigated for in-memory computing, such as SRAM, DRAM, flash, phase change memory, resistive RAM, and very recently MRAM [3]. However, memory technologies with very fast, low-energy switching, high endurance (and low disturb) are required to fulfil the potential of in-memory computing and compete with the conventional CMOS-based approach [1].

ULTRARAM™ is a patented Lancaster memory technology with a non-volatile storage time of at least 1000 years, an endurance in excess of 10 million program/erase cycles, non-destructive read, low disturb, a switching energy that is 100 times lower per unit area than DRAM, and intrinsic sub-ns switching speeds [4]. It has huge potential as a conventional memory, but also for in-memory computing.

The PhD project will be the first to investigate ULTRARAM™ for in-memory computing. The research will involve modelling (at different scales), and designing, fabricating and testing some simple ULTRARAM™ for in-memory computing circuits to show proof of principle.

This PhD is offered in collaboration with Quinas Technology. Funding for UK students is available on a competitive basis.

[1] ‘Memory devices and applications for in-memory computing’, A. Sebastian et al., Nature Nanotechnology, 15, 529 (2020) [Link]

[2] ‘In-memory Computing for AI Applications’, E. Eleftheriou, 16^th International Conference on High-Performance and Embedded Architectures and Compilers, 18-20 January 2021 [YouTube]

[4] ‘A crossbar array of magnetoresistive memory devices for in-memory computing’, Jung et al., Nature 601, 211 (2022) [Link]

[3] ‘ULTRARAM: a low-energy, high-endurance, compound-semiconductor memory on silicon’, P. D. Hodgson, D. Lane et al. [Link]

Supervisor

Dr Quian Zhuang

Description

The project aims to develop high quality positioned quantum dot via droplet epitaxy and to explore the application in quantum optics.

Supervisor

Dr Quian Zhuang

Description

This project aims to develop broadly tunable mid-infrared VCSEL devices and explore its use for interferometry. This will be achieved through the use of semiconductor type II cascade structures with an external cavity, to provide VCSEL with tenability of ~ 1 um. Precise tuning of the emitting wavelength of VCSEL pairs through self-heating phenomena will be explored to investigate the use in interferometry.

The project will be closely incorporated with MIRICO, a company dedicated in gas analysing based on laser interference induced by phase shift. The success of the project will provide a completely new technology for gas analysing, which can provide significantly improved accuracy, response time and compactness, with massively reduced cost. MIRICO will provide in-kind input, e.g. investigate the interferometry features from VCSEL pairs that commercially in the market and assess Lancaster VCSELs and their interferometry, and offer secondment opportunities for the student to develop and use their optical bench setup to assess Lancaster VCSEL. The student will be trained for the use of companies’ facilities and will be supervised by senior engineers from the company; the student will also learn about the management approaches of the companies, in particular with MIRICO which is experienced in managing EU and Innovate UK research projects. The student should also develop the skills in lecturing – he/she will be the key contact to present the research outcomes to the companies and to intake the feedback from companies to achieve the next milestone.

Also, there will be a good chance formulating a joint research proposal including Physics, LEC and MIRICO for a bid to the forthcoming UKRI research program aiming to tackle climate change and driving clean growth (focused on the theme of Clean Air). The PhD candidate will be in a consortium including physicists, environmental scientists and instrumental engineers if the bid is successful.

Supervisor

Professor Robert Young

Description

Securing the digital electronic devices in our lives, from computers to smart home appliances and safety critical systems, is becoming increasingly challenging. As technology develops, nefarious parties have access to greater resources, and as device get more complex the probability of security-related bugs making their way into released products increases.

At Lancaster we have a pioneering vision of using quantum technologies to address this security challenge. Fundamental rules of quantum mechanics can be exploited to create devices with provable security metrics, including quantum key distribution systems (for security communications) [1], quantum random number generators (for unpredictable session keys) [2] to physical unclonable functions (for identification and anti-counterfeiting) [3]. The devices can then be combined to create secure systems.

PhD projects are available to develop and integrate quantum security devices, working with the fantastic facilities in Lancaster University’s Quantum Technology Centre [4]. There are also opportunities for excellent students to work with directly with our spin-out company, Quantum Base Ltd; funding is available on a competitive basis.

[1] “Quantum information to the home” - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/13/6/063039

[2] “Extracting random numbers from quantum tunnelling through a single diode” - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18161-9

[3] “Using intrinsic properties of quantum dots to provide additional security when uniquely identifying devices” - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20596-8

[4] https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/quantum-technology/

Supervisor

Dr Rostislaw Mikhaylovskiy

Description

Finding a fundamentally new way for data processing in the fastest and most energy efficient manner is a frontier problem for applied physics and technology. The amount of data generated every second is so enormous that the heat produced by modern data centres has already become a serious limitation to further increase their performance. This heating is a result of the Ohmic dissipation of energy unavoidable in conventional electronics. At present, the data industry lacks a solution for this problem, which in future may contribute greatly to the global warming and energy crisis.

An emerging alternative approach is to employ spin waves (magnons) to realize waveform-based computation, which is free from electronic Joule heating. However, the present realization of this approach, called magnonics, uses electric currents to generate and modulate magnons. In the course of this PhD project we will work towards replacement of the current by light using antiferromagnetic materials, in which spins precess on a picosecond (one trillionth of a second) timescale and strongly couple to electro-magnetic waves [1]. Yet, the antiferromagnetic THz magnons remain practically unexplored [2].

To excite THz magnons we will use ultrashort strong electro-magnetic fields produced either by table-top ultrafast lasers. We will push the driven spin dynamics into strongly nonlinear regime required for practical applications such as quantum computation or magnetization switching [3]. We will investigate nonlinear interaction of intense and highly coherent magnons with an eye on reaching regimes of auto-oscillations, nonlinear frequency conversion and complete magnetization reversal [4].

This interdisciplinary project at the interface between magnetism and photonics offers training in ultrafast optics, THz and magneto-optical spectroscopies as well as in physics of magnetically ordered materials. Also there will be opportunities for travel and experiments using THz free-electron laser facilities such as FELIX (Nijmegen, Netherlands) and TELBE (Dresden, Germany).

Interested candidates should contact Dr Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy Dr Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy for further information. Funding is available on a competitive basis.

[1]. K. Grishunin , T. Huisman, G. Li, E. Mishina, Th. Rasing, A. V. Kimel, K. Zhang, Z. Jin, S. Cao, W. Ren , G.-H. Ma and R. V. Mikhaylovskiy. Terahertz magnon-polaritons in TmFeO₃. ACS Photonics 5, 1375 (2018).

[2]. J. R. Hortensius, D. Afanasiev, M. Matthiesen, R. Leenders, R. Citro, A. V. Kimel, R. V. Mikhaylovskiy, B. A. Ivanov & A. D. Caviglia. Coherent spin-wave transport in an antiferromagnet. Nature Physics 17, 1001 (2021).

[3]. S. Baierl, M. Hohenleutner, T. Kampfrath, A. K. Zvezdin, A. V. Kimel, R. Huber, and R. V. Mikhaylovskiy. Nonlinear spin control by terahertz driven anisotropy fields. Nature Photonics 10, 715 (2016).

[4] S. Schlauderer, C. Lange, S. Baierl, T. Ebnet, C. P. Schmid, D. C. Valovcin, A. K. Zvezdin, A. V. Kimel, R. V. Mikhaylovskiy and R. Huber. Temporal and spectral fingerprints of ultrafast all-coherent spin switching. Nature 569, 383 (2019).

Supervisor

Dr Samuel Jarvis

Description

Project summary – The goal of this PhD project is to develop highly ordered and structurally stable molecular devices. The growth of thermally and mechanically stable molecular nanostructures is a major challenge for retaining the quantum mechanical properties of molecules in real-world and demanding environments. This is especially important in nanoelectrical devices where heat and stress can damage the molecular structure, causing device failure. This PhD project aims to overcome this challenge by developing new methods for step-by-step (atom-by-atom) on-surface synthesis of covalently stabilised molecular wires and devices. Achieving this goal will address a major outstanding challenge in translating functional molecular polymers to technologically relevant materials.

Background – Thin-film molecular layers are exceptionally important for introducing high degrees of functionality to materials. Molecules can be designed with a multitude of different physical properties, ranging from high electrical conductivity, catalytic activity, tuneable optical properties, and much more [1]. These properties are determined by the electronic structure of a molecule, making them well suited for applications in quantum technologies. In particular, on-surface polymerization restricted to one and two dimensions has received considerable recent attention [2]. Not only does covalent cross-linking of molecules greatly increase their stability, on-surface polymerization also enables the growth of unique molecular structures often otherwise impossible to synthesize, including graphene nano ribbons used as molecular wires [3].

At present, the vast majority of molecular nanoscale synthesis is limited to catalytically active metal substrates, where the catalyst metal is required to activate the polymerisation reaction. This results in strong surface coupling causing molecular distortion, orbital broadening, and electrical short-circuits, thus detrimentally affecting molecular properties and severely restricting their application in physical devices. In order to fully realise nanoscale molecular devices, we must instead fabricate molecular wires directly on semiconducting substrates such as SiO₂, where they can be directly integrated into nanoelectronic devices. To do this, we will build on recent findings [4] highlighting the potential to fabricate nanoscale molecular structures directly on surfaces using so-called atomic quantum clusters (AQCs).

Project Outline – This project will explore methods to direct the assembly and growth of functional molecules into nanoscale structures and devices. We will study how single molecules with well-defined quantum mechanical properties can be ‘linked’ together into rigid 1D molecular wires or 2D molecular networks, starting with porphyrin and graphene nanoribbon based wires. Single molecule and atomic scale properties will be studied with images of their detailed atomic and electronic structure (with resolution better than 0.1nm). The resulting molecular structures will provide an exciting playground to develop our fundamental understanding of quantum behaviour and molecular interactions at the atomic scale, and ultimately, provide new routes for developing nanoscale electronic devices such as field effect transistors (FETs) [5].

The selected student will have the opportunity to become trained in a broad range of techniques to study a variety of nanoscale materials. This will involve advanced scanning probe microscopy methods capable of imaging single atoms and characterising nanoscale electronic and chemical properties. This work will take place in world-leading facilities including Lancaster’s Quantum Technology Centre and the award winning IsoLab, providing some of the most advanced environments for characterisation in the world. You will work in a vibrant research group, whose research has been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education award for ‘STEM project of the year’ in 2019. You will also become highly trained in nanoscale material fabrication, ultra-high vacuum technology, X-ray spectroscopy, clean room usage, device testing, and use nano-fabrication tools to prepare devices for integration with embedded systems. Students are also expected to publish high impact journal publications and present their work at international meetings and conferences, and will receive opportunities and training for personal and research development.

Interested candidates should contact Dr Samuel Jarvis for further information.

[1] T. Kudernac, S. Lei, J. A. A. W. Elemans, and S. De Feyter, Chem. Soc. Rev. 38, 402 (2009).

[2] L. Grill and S. Hecht, Nature Chemistry, 12, 115 (2020).

[3] P. Ruffieux, S. Wang, B. Yang, C. Sánchez-Sánchez, J. Liu, T. Dienel, et al., Nature 531, 489 (2016).

[4] L. Forcieri, Q. Wu, A. Quadrelli, S. Hou, B. Mangham, N.R. Champness, D. Buceta, M.A. Lopez-Quintela, C.J. Lambert, S.P. Jarvis, Nature Chemistry (under review), (2022).

[5] J.P. Llinas, A. Fairbrother, G.B. Barin, W. Shi,. K. Lee, S. Wu, et al., Nature Communications, 8, 633 (2017).

Supervisor

Dr Michael Thompson

Description

There is a growing demand for electronic components that operate are cryogenic temperatures, from analogue amplifiers to digital control circuits for quantum computing. Existing electronic components are manufactured using semiconductors, mostly silicon, that either don’t work at all, or work poorly at very low temperatures. Two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, have been used for building transistors and even more complex components, with comparable performance to existing semiconductors. However, unlike existing semiconductor components, these materials continue to function as well, if not better, at very low temperatures. The aim of this project is to build cryogenic electronics using these 2D materials, in particular, using commercially available wafer-scale graphene to build analogue amplifiers.

This project will make use of Lancaster’s cleanroom for fabrication and the IsoLab facility for device characterisation. IsoLab is equipped with a dilution refrigerator capable of cooling devices down to 10 mK and is housed inside an electromagnetically shielded room. The filtered mains circuits and dedicated ground nest make this facility the ideal location for testing low-noise cryogenic electronics.

For this project, a student will learn to fabricate nanoelectronic devices using both 2D materials and semiconductors and characterisation of these inside a cryogenic refrigerator. This work is closely linked to existing collaborations with the National Graphene Institute in Manchester and the European Microkelvin Platform project and the student will have the opportunity to engage with these collaborations.

You are expected to have a strong interest and preferably knowledge in:

electrical measurements of nanoscale devices

cryogenic techniques

nanofabrication

data acquisition using Python or similar

Supervisor

Dr Michael Thompson

Description

Josephson junctions are a key component in superconducting electronics and are used in superconducting qubits, superconducting quantum interference devices, Josephson parametric amplifiers and many more. Junctions formed with graphene can have their critical current tuned using a local gate, creating junctions whose properties can be varied during operation. This has the potential to enhance existing technologies or open up possibilities for creating entirely new devices.

While such junctions have already been demonstrated, these use exfoliated graphene flakes, which is not a scalable technology and makes implementation of these junctions impractical for applications outside of fundamental research. Graphene is available in large areas, grown by chemical vapour deposition and while the quality is not as high as exfoliated flakes, it is possible to make junctions using this material. This opens up the opportunity for building superconducting electronics with tunable junctions at scale. This project aims to develop a process for fabricating graphene-superconductor junctions with low resistance contacts using CVD graphene and once established, design and build electronics devices.

This project will make use of Lancaster’s cleanroom for fabrication and the IsoLab facility for device characterisation. IsoLab is equipped with a dilution refrigerator capable of cooling devices down to 10 mK and is housed inside an electromagnetically shielded room. The filtered mains circuits and dedicated ground nest make this facility the ideal location for testing low-noise cryogenic electronics. For this project, a student will learn to fabricate nanoelectronic devices using 2D materials and characterisation of these inside a cryogenic refrigerator.

You are expected to have a strong interest in:

• electrical measurements of nanoscale devices
• cryogenic techniques
• nanofabrication
• data acquisition using Python or similar

Supervisor

Dr Jonathan Prance

Project description

The ability to cool materials to millikelvin temperatures has been the foundation of many breakthroughs in condensed matter physics and nanotechnology. At this frontier, quantum behaviour can be studied by making devices smaller and colder, increasing coherence across the system. The goal of this project is to apply a new technique – on-chip demagnetisation refrigeration – to reach temperatures below 1 millikelvin in a range of nanoelectronic structures. This will open a new temperature range for nanoscale physics.

As experiments are pushed into the sub-millikelvin regime, it becomes increasingly difficult to measure and define the temperature of a material or device. The thermal coupling between various sub-systems in can be extremely small; for example, the electrons in the metal wires contacting an on-chip structure can be at a different temperature to the electrons in the chip, the phonons in the chip, and the apparatus that you are using to cool it. This situation calls for a variety of thermometry techniques, each suited to measuring the temperature of a different physical system. The thermometers must also have extremely low heat dissipation and excellent isolation from the room temperature environment. This project will include the development of new and existing thermometry techniques that are suitable for sub-millikelvin temperatures.

Devices will be produced in the Lancaster Quantum Technology Centre cleanroom, and by our collaborators. Experiments will be conducted using the cutting-edge facilities of the Ultralow Temperature Physics group at Lancaster.

You are expected to have a strong interest in and preferably knowledge of:

• electrical measurements of nanoscale devices
• cryogenic techniques
• nanofabrication
• data acquisition using Python or MatLab

Supervisor

Professor Oleg Kolosov

Project description

The new PhD project is announced at Lancaster University in collaboration with the National Graphene Institute. The project focuses on the exploration of cutting-edge fundamental and applied science of “mixed physics” phenomena – electromechanical, electronic, thermal and thermoelectric - in the explosively expanding area of novel nanostructured two-dimensional materials (2DMs) and their heterostructures.

The recently discovered 2DMs – one atom thick van der Waals-bound perfect atomic layers such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD’s) - MoS2, Nb2Se3, InSe, etc, open unique possibilities for novel electronics, sensors and energy generation and storage. This class of materials offers unique and nature-leading physical properties – relativistic type electron mobility, the highest to the lowest known thermal conductivities, exceptional flexibility while record strength in mechanical properties, etc.

The project focuses on the largely unexplored area of 2DM’s where physical phenomena of different nature meet – mechanical and electrical, thermal and electronic, mechanical and thermal, initiating beyond-state-of-the-art performing thermoelectrics, nanoscale actuators, super-efficient electronics, memories and sensors. E.g. the highest known in nature thermal conductivity of graphene allows to precisely channel nanoscale heat in advanced processors, new TMD heterostructures have unique potential as advanced thermoelectric materials, and exceptional mechanical stiffness and low density of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, coupled with low losses, allows to design in quantum nanoelectromechanical sensors with ultimate sensitivity limited only by the quantum mechanics laws.

The successful applicant will work at Lancaster University Physics Department within one of the world-leading groups in the exploration of physical properties of 2DM’s using scanning probe microscopy (SPM) where novel phenomena of geometrical thermoelectricity (GTE) in graphene and unique nanomechanics of domains in 2D materials heterostructures were discovered.

The project will target the manufacture of novel 2DM nanostructures including nanoconstrictions, heterostructures, suspended membranes and superconductor – 2DM devices using the state-of-the-art e-beam lithography equipped Lancaster Quantum Technology Centre facilities of National Graphene Institute and National Physical Laboratory. The developed nanostructures are studied using state-of-the-art SPMs combined with ultra-high frequency ultrasonic excitation, GHz range Laser Doppler vibrometry and super-sensitive optical interferometry, and microwave superconductor transport techniques, utilising world-leading European Microkelvin Platform (EMP) and ultra-low-nose IsoLab facilities housed at Lancaster Physics.

The Physics Department is holder of Athena SWAN Silver award and Institute of Physics JUNO Championship status and is strongly committed to fostering diversity within its community as a source of excellence, cultural enrichment, and social strength. We welcome those who would contribute to the further diversification of our department.

Contact

Professor Oleg Kolosov o.kolosov@lancaster.ac.uk for any additional enquiries. You can also apply directly stating the title of the project and the name of the supervisor.

Supervisor

Professor Manus Hayne

Project description

It is obvious that physical scaling of the transistors underpinning digital electronics has ultimate limits. As these have been approached, increasing the size of the chip had been used to maintain Moore’s law [1]. However, this is bounded by wafer size, and has expensive yield and geometry issues. Furthermore, power constraints have restricted clock speeds for years, and there is concern about the huge amounts of electricity that computing, especially datacentres, consumes [2]. Capacity cannot exponentially increase indefinitely, but radical new approaches are nevertheless required for information and communication technologies of the future.

The PhD project will further develop a patent-pending alternative approach to digital logic [3] that abandons the CMOS paradigm underpinning computing. Practical implementation of digital logic requires pairs of devices that display complementary, or opposite, behaviour, i.e., the same input will turn one device on and its complementary partner off. This is currently achieved by pairs of nMOS and pMOS (MOS = metal oxide semiconductor) field-effect transistors, hence CMOS, where C stands for complementary. In our concept, logical complementarity, and hence function, is achieved by a single device where an electron reservoir is sandwiched between two normally-off channels. Application of a positive gate voltage to the top of the device will pull the electrons to the top channel, turning it on, whilst the bottom channel remains off. Similarly, application of a negative gate voltage to the top of the device will push the electrons to the bottom channel, turning it on, whilst the top channel remains off. This device has a number of intrinsic advantages over CMOS, it is twice as compact, highly symmetric and expected to have lower dissipation.

The feasibility of the concept has been demonstrated via simulations and prototype devices in an existing PhD project. The scope of the new work involves next steps such as fabrication and testing of more complex logic gates and circuits, scaling of devices, low-temperature testing and integration with ULTRARAM™ [4].

This PhD is offered in collaboration with Quinas Technology. Funding for UK students is available on a competitive basis.

[1] ‘Moore’s law’, Wikipedia [Link].

[2] ‘How to stop data centres from gobbling up the world’s electricity’, N. Jones, Nature 561, 163-166 (2018) [Link].

[3] ‘Logic gate’, M. Hayne and J.J. Hall, patent pending PCT/GB2023/051493 (2022).

[4] ‘ULTRARAM: a low-energy, high-endurance, compound-semiconductor memory on silicon’, P. D. Hodgson, D. Lane et al. [Link]

Supervisor

Professor Manus Hayne

Project description

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are high-speed, compact (low-cost) laser diodes used in laser printing, datacoms and other applications. Their implementation in the Apple iPhone X for facial recognition and motion sensing was soon replicated by other smartphone manufacturers, stimulating a growth in the VCSEL market from $775M in 2015 to an expected $4.7bn in 2024, a compound annual growth rate of 22% [1]. Nevertheless, many consumers and thus manufacturers, don’t like the small cut-out section at the top of the screen that is necessary for the implementation of the VCSEL arrays, preferring to place the VCSEL below the screen. However, achieving this requires VCSELs that emit beyond 1380 nm. Indeed, there are a host of telecoms-related and other applications such as LiDAR that have yet to benefit from VCSELs that emit in the telecoms range (1260 to 1625 nm).

VCSELs work by implementing the mirrors required for the laser cavity in repeated alternating layers of GaAs and Al_x­Ga_1-xAs, which have differing refractive indices, to make distributed Bragg reflectors that exploit interference effects. The use of GaAs/Al_x­Ga_1-xAs is strongly preferred as there is minimal lattice mismatch, despite the refractive index contrast, allowing ~100 layers to be grown with high quality. The problem is that the conventional method of extending the wavelength, via the introduction of In into the quantum wells in the active region, generates strain that limits the emission to wavelengths below 1000 nm.

The project will build on successful collaborative work between IQE and Lancaster developing telecoms wavelength GaSb quantum ring (QR) VCSELs [2]. The objective is to push the emission wavelength beyond 1380 nm and will involve the design, growth, processing and testing of individual VCSEL devices and VCSEL arrays.

This PhD is offered in collaboration with IQE. Funding for UK students is available on a competitive basis.

[1] ‘Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSELs) market’, Transparency Market Research [Link].

[2] ‘Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser’, M. Hayne and P. Hodgson US, Europe, Japan and S Korea patent [Link].

Supervisor

Professor Manus Hayne

Project description

ULTRARAM™ [1,2] is an ultra-efficient, award-winning [3] memory technology invented in the Physics Department at Lancaster that combines the non-volatility of flash with the speed and endurance of dynamic random access (DRAM). Such properties are characteristic of a so-called ‘universal memory’ that has the capability to be implemented in any application, but it is likely that at least initially, ULTRARAM will be used in high-value applications where its many beneficial attributes of speed, energy efficiency, tolerance of extremes in temperature etc. outweigh the inevitably large cost per bit of small-scale production. Irrespective of the details of the first products, it will be necessary to fabricate and test large numbers of devices in increasingly large arrays and/or with smaller feature sizes in order to understand device variation, gathering statistics for a range of parameters such as yield, retention, endurance, logical contrast etc.. This will be the remit of the PhD project, placing it at the cutting edge of the development of a highly-disruptive memory technology.

This PhD is offered in collaboration with Quinas Technology. Funding for UK students is available on a competitive basis.

[1] www.ultraram.tech.

[2] ‘ULTRARAM: a low-energy, high-endurance, compound-semiconductor memory on silicon’, P. D. Hodgson, D. Lane et al. [Link].

[3] ULTRARAM Start-up Wins Best of Show Memory Technology Award in Silicon Valley - Lancaster University

Supervisor

Dr Samuel Jarvis

Project summary – The goal of this PhD project is to help realise a new generation of switchable molecular devices with the potential to fulfil societal needs for flexible energy harvesting materials, low-power neuromorphic computing, smart textiles, and self-powered patches for healthcare. The possibility of creating these exciting materials derives from a series of world firsts by the supervisory team, demonstrating that room-temperature quantum interference effects can be scaled up from single molecules into molecular layers with the potential to translate quantum interference effects into technologically relevant materials.

Background – Thin-film molecular layers are exceptionally important for introducing high degrees of functionality to materials. Molecules can be designed with a multitude of different physical properties, ranging from high electrical conductivity, catalytic activity, tuneable optical properties, and much more [1]. These properties are determined by the electronic structure of a molecule, making them well suited for applications in quantum technologies. In particular, a technique called on-surface polymerization has received considerable recent attention due to its ability to create unique and stable 1D and 2D molecular structures with an exciting range of quantum mechanical properties [2]. This project is an exciting opportunity to realise these new materials as part of a recently awarded £7m programme of research bringing together a world leading team in molecular electronics [3].

Project Outline – This project will explore methods for surface growth and characterisation of molecular thin films designed to optimise thermoelectric and memristive properties. The successful candidate will develop new methods to prepare highly ordered molecular films including the use of on-surface reactions that can be used to link together molecules with well-defined quantum mechanical properties into rigid 1D molecular wires or 2D molecular networks. Single molecule and atomic scale properties will be studied with Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM) which provide images of their detailed atomic and electronic structure (with resolution better than 0.1nm). The resulting molecular structures will provide an exciting playground to develop our fundamental understanding of quantum behaviour and molecular interactions at the atomic scale, and ultimately, provide new routes for developing nanoscale molecular electronic devices.

The selected student will have the opportunity to become trained in a broad range of techniques to study a variety of nanoscale materials. This will involve advanced scanning probe microscopy methods capable of imaging single atoms and characterising nanoscale electronic and chemical properties. This work will take place in world-leading facilities including Lancaster’s Quantum Technology Centre and the award winning IsoLab, providing advanced environments for atomic scale characterisation. You will also become highly trained in nanoscale material fabrication, ultra-high vacuum technology and X-ray spectroscopy. Students are also expected to publish high impact journal publications and present their work at international meetings and conferences, and will receive opportunities and training for personal and research development.

[1] T. Kudernac, S. Lei, J. A. A. W. Elemans, and S. De Feyter, Chem. Soc. Rev. 38, 402 (2009).

[2] L. Grill and S. Hecht, Nature Chemistry, 12, 115 (2020).

[3] https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/7m-award-for-quantum-engineering-of-energy-efficient-organic-smart-materials.

For more information, please visit the QMol website

Supervisor

Dr Benjamin Robinson

Project summary: This is an experimental project, based in the Department of Physics at Lancaster University and is associated with the recently awarded, Lancaster-led, £7.1M EPSRC programme grant, Quantum engineering of energy-efficient molecular materials (QMol) [1]. The project will help realise a new generation of switchable molecular devices with the potential to fulfil societal needs for flexible energy harvesting materials, low-power neuromorphic computing, smart textiles, and self-powered patches for healthcare.

The goal of this project is to bring together new materials synthesised by colleagues within QMol and world-leading characterisation capabilities developed at Lancaster University to realise a new generation of high-performance materials which demonstrate highly tuneable quantum properties at room temperature.

The possibility of creating these exciting materials derives from a series of world firsts by the QMol team, demonstrating that room-temperature quantum interference effects can be scaled up from single molecules into molecular layers [2,3], potentially translating quantum interference effects into technologically relevant materials.

Background: Waste heat generated by information and computing technologies (ICT) is expected to reach 30% of US electricity consumption by 2025 and is widely recognised as being unsustainable. If low-energy computing paradigms based on neuromorphic computing could be realised, which efficiently process large amounts of data with low power consumption, then much of this waste heat could be avoided. In addition, if thermoelectric (TE) energy harvesters could be developed, which perform well at relatively low temperatures (<150^oC), then waste heat from ICT could be converted back into useful electricity. Energy harvested from the environment and sources such as the human body could also be used to power the internet of things and wearable devices, with engineered thermal management relevant to applications in healthcare, fashion and high-performance clothing.

This project will contribute to these technological challenges and the associated societal and economic benefits by helping to realise large area, switchable thin-film materials and devices on rigid and flexible substrates, designed for TE energy harvesting, cooling, sensing, thermal management and memristive switching. This overarching research challenge will be met, in part, by utilising quantum interference (QI), which introduces additional dynamical range by suppressing current flow at low bias and allows fine control of electrical and thermal conductance [4].

Project Outline: This project will focus on the thin film growth of novel organic/organometallic compounds by molecular self-assembly and Langmuir-Blodgett deposition and their subsequent characterisation by a range of surface science techniques including scanning probe microscopy.

The project is predominantly experimental and you will gain interdisciplinary expertise spanning materials design, thin film fabrication, and nanoscale characterisation. You will benefit from Lancaster’s molecular thin film fabrication capabilities and a suite of state-of-the-art scanning probe microscopes to explore the physical processes of thermal and electrical transport in deposited ultra-thin structures. The compounds will be supplied by colleagues in the Departments of Chemistry at Oxford University and Imperial College, London. There will also be opportunities for you to work with colleagues from the Department of Physics at Imperial College to translate your thin films to practical device architectures.

Research Environment: You will benefit from a vibrant working environment and will be part of the QMol consortium incorporating partners across nine leading Universities and 11 industry partners. Through QMol, you will have the opportunity to develop skills in interdisciplinary working through close collaboration with colleagues studying the theory of quantum transport and device fabrication, as well as industry partners from both SMEs and multinational corporations.

You will be trained and supported in other academic skills such as the preparation of high-impact journal publications, and presenting your work at international meetings and conferences, and you will receive opportunities and training for personal and research development. In addition, you will have the opportunity to join in local and national outreach and engagement activities.

Lancaster University is a leading UK university and the Physics Department at Lancaster University is one of the top in the UK for research. REF2021 rated 98% of our research outputs as world-leading or internationally excellent. The Department is ranked 4th in the UK for Physics in the Guardian University League Tables 2023.

The Department is committed to family-friendly and flexible working policies. We are also strongly committed to fostering diversity within our community as a source of excellence, cultural enrichment, and social strength. We hold an Athena SWAN Silver award and Institute of Physics Juno Champion status. We welcome those who would contribute to the further diversification of our department.

The Candidate: This project will ideally suit a candidate who has an interest in interdisciplinary experimental nanoscience. Knowledge of nanomaterials or experience in either quantum transport, scanning probe microscopy and/or self-assembly of organic monolayers would be advantageous but not compulsory as full training in a wide variety of techniques will be given.

You will need to be highly motivated and be able to work as part of a team, ensuring that key milestones are reached. You will be expected to lead discussions and give regular research updates in person with the group leader and in wider research group meetings with the project consortium. The ability to plan your own workload and keep accurate scientific records is important.

General eligibility criteria: This is a highly interdisciplinary project operating at the interface of Physics, Chemistry and device engineering.  Applicants would normally be expected to hold a minimum of a UK Honours degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science or a related area.

Enquiries: Interested applicants are welcome to get in touch to learn more about the PhD project. Please contact Dr Benjamin Robinson, for more information.

[1] https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/7m-award-for-quantum-engineering-of-energy-efficient-organic-smart-materials.

[2] Wang, X.; et al. Scale-Up of Room-Temperature Constructive Quantum Interference from Single Molecules to Self-Assembled Molecular-Electronic Films, Journal of the American Chemical Society 142 (19) 8555–8560 (2020)

[3] Bennett, T.L.R.; et al. Multi-component self-assembled molecular-electronic films: towards new high-performance thermoelectric systems, Chemical Science 13, 5176-5185 (2022)

[4] Hamill, J.M.; et al. Quantum Interference and Contact Effects in the Thermoelectric Performance of Anthracene-Based Molecules, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 127 (15), 7484–7491 (2023)

Supervisors

• Dr Benjamin Robinson (Physics)
• Dr Sam Jarvis (Physics)
• Dr Jonathan Ward (Chemistry)

Dates

• Deadline for applications: 15th March 2024
• Provisional Interview Date: Mar - April 2024
• Start Date: October 2024

Project description

Green thermoelectricity – the sustainable generation of electricity from waste heat - has the potential to be a key enabling technology to combat climate change in the roadmap to the UK’s target of net zero greenhouse gases by 2050. However, current inorganic thermoelectric materials are inefficient, brittle, toxic and often comprised of critical raw materials. This project seeks to address these challenges through a new class of high-efficiency organic thermoelectric materials.

The programme is interdisciplinary and will span activities in Physics and Chemistry. The PhD student will primarily focus on developing new organic materials characterised in the Physics Department (Robinson and Jarvis) and synthesised in the Chemistry Department (Ward). The materials developed will exhibit room-temperature quantum interference effects, which have been shown to boost thermoelectric performance when assembled in ultra-thin flexible films. This project builds on a track record of high-impact publications led by the supervisors and their collaborators.

The project is predominantly experimental and the PhD student will gain interdisciplinary expertise spanning materials synthesis, molecular electronics, green energy materials, and scanning probe nanoscale characterisation. The student will benefit from access to advanced materials characterisation capabilities including scanning probe microscopy (SPM) housed in Lancaster’s state-of-the-art low noise facility IsoLab, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and bespoke material synthesis.

The student will benefit from a vibrant working environment and will be part of the national QMol (Quantum engineering of energy-efficient molecular materials) network, a recently funded £8.6M programme led by LU incorporating partners across nine leading Universities and 11 industry partners. Through QMol, the student will have the opportunity to develop skills in interdisciplinary working through close collaboration with colleagues studying the theory of quantum transport, and device fabrication, as well as industry partners from both SMEs and Multinational corporations.

General eligibility criteria

This is a highly interdisciplinary project operating at the interface of Physics, Chemistry and device engineering.  Applicants would normally be expected to hold a minimum of a UK Honours degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science or a related area.

Project-specific criteria

This project will ideally suit a candidate who has an interest in interdisciplinary experimental nanoscience. Knowledge of nanomaterials or experience in either quantum transport, scanning probe microscopy and/or self-assembly of organic monolayers would be advantageous but not compulsory as full training in a wide variety of techniques will be given. The candidate is expected to successfully work as part of a team, with good interpersonal skills, and to successfully complete research projects suitable for the award of a PhD in physics, including publications in high-impact peer-reviewed articles.

Studentship funding

A tax-free stipend will be paid at the standard UKRI rate; currently £18,622. This is a fully funded studentship of 3.5 years for UK/Home students.

Enquiries

Interested applicants are welcome to contact Ben Robinson at b.j.robinson@lancaster.ac.uk to learn more about the PhD project.

Further reading

• Wang, X.; et al. Scale-Up of Room-Temperature Constructive Quantum Interference from Single Molecules to Self-Assembled Molecular-Electronic Films, Journal of the American Chemical Society 142 (19) 8555–8560 (2020)
• Bennett, T.L.R.; et al. Multi-component self-assembled molecular-electronic films: towards new high-performance thermoelectric systems, Chemical Science 13, 5176-5185 (2022)
• Hamill, J.M.; et al. Quantum Interference and Contact Effects in the Thermoelectric Performance of Anthracene-Based Molecules, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 127 (15), 7484–7491 (2023)

Application process

1. Download the Natural Sciences Funded PhD Application Form and Natural Sciences Funded PhD Reference Form‌.
2. Complete the Application Form, renaming the document with your 'Name and Application Form' e.g., Joe Bloggs Application Form
3. Submit the completed Application Form and a CV to naturalsci@lancaster.ac.uk
4. Please note only Word or PDF files are accepted
5. Rename the referee form with your ‘Name and Reference’, e.g., Joe Bloggs Reference. Send the renamed reference form to two referees and request them to forward the referee document to naturalsci@lancaster.ac.uk
6. Please note only Word or PDF files are accepted. It is important that you ensure references are submitted by the closing date or as soon as possible
7. You will receive a generic acknowledgement in receipt of successfully sending the application documents.
8. Please note that only applications submitted as per these instructions will be considered
9. Please note that if English is not your first language, you will be required to provide evidence of your proficiency in English. This evidence is only required if you are offered a funded PhD and is not required as part of this application process
10. Please note that if you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, then you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. If you would like feedback on your application, please contact the supervisors of the project

Supervisor

Professor Oleg Kolosov

Project details

The new PhD project in fundamental and applied physics is announced at Lancaster University Quantum Technologie Centre (LQTC) in collaboration with the National Scientific Research Centre “Demokritos” (NCSRD) in Athens, Greece, and National Graphene Institute (NGI), UK, the birthplace of Graphene, as part of the announced collaborative European Research Council project.

The challenging and high-reward PhD project will target fundamental physics in two-dimensional (2D) materials, their nanostructures, and 2D-3D materials devices developing novel principles of advanced quantum and nanoscale energy management devices. In particular, the project will investigate largely unexplored fundamental links between electronic and phononic heat transport, electrical and nanomechanical phenomena, and thermal-electrical-mechanical energy conversion in the 2D nanostructures. The project outcomes will lead to highly efficient thermoelectric and electrocaloric devices, beyond-state-of-the-art on-chip cooling, and highly sensitive photons and phonons detectors, approaching quantum limits.

The successful applicant will work in experimental research at Lancaster University Quantum Technology Centre (LQTC) in one of the world-leading groups in the exploration of physical properties of 2DM’s using scanning probe microscopy (SPM), in direct interaction with NCSRD in Athens, the world leader in molecular beam epitaxy synthesis of 2D materials, and National Graphene Institute producing unique 2D material hetero and nanostructures. The applicant will have the opportunity to spend some time in Athens and at NGI, and collaborate with leading experimental and theoretical scientists in the field. The applicant is expected to have an excellent academic record in the Physics, Material Science or Electrical Engineering, with good experience in advanced experimentation, and good analytical skills.

The Physics Department is in the top 10 of UK Physics Departments (#4 by Guardian and Sunday Times rating and #7 by Good University Guide). It is a holder of Athena SWAN Silver award and Institute of Physics JUNO Championship status and is strongly committed to fostering diversity within its community as a source of excellence, cultural enrichment, and social strength. We welcome those who would contribute to the further diversification of our department.

Applicants are expected to have the equivalent of a first (1) or upper second (2.1) degree class in Physics or Astrophysics, supplemented by a relevant Master's-level qualification. Potential applicants are invited to apply to the physics department stating the title of the project and the name of the supervisor.

Contact Professor Oleg Kolosov for any additional enquiries

Funding note

The funding for this project is restricted to UK residents and will cover national and international secondments to the NGI and NCSRD in Athens.

Supervisor

Dr Alessandro Romito

Description

Many body quantum dynamics underpin fundamental physical phenomena, from thermalisation to information scrambling, and many aspects of quantum technologies like quantum information processing and transport. A recent breakthrough in the field has been the discovery of entanglement phase transitions induced by local quantum measurements. This new field of Measurement induced Transitions (MIT) has already made surprising connections with condensed matter, statistical mechanics, and quantum information science. Yet, the characterisation and implications of MIT are mainly unexplored, since they can’t be captured by methods developed to date for averaged quantum dynamics.

In this project, you will analyse MITs in different many-body systems and their implications for various quantum resources, from entanglement to topological quantum order. You will develop new numerical, and possibly analytical, methods to describe these new quantum phase transitions.

Supervisor

Dr Alessandro Romito

Description

Heat management at the nanoscale is a compelling task, even more now that quantum architectures for computation and transport are a near-future available technology. Exploiting quantum resources for this task is a broadly active research field. The aim of this project is to exploit specific quantum effects, i.e. topologically protected modes present in certain nanostructures. The project will focus on the thermal and thermoelectric performance of superconducting nanocircuits hosting quantum modes protected by topology, particularly when driven by external parameters to make them act at quantum thermal machines.

In this project, you will model superconducting nano-devices and their energy (heat) transport properties adapting the scattering matrix formalisms for time-dependent systems to the. You will develop both numerical simulations and analytical modelling for energy transport in driven topological superconductors.

Supervisor

Professor Henning Schomerus

Description

Quantum systems can display robust features related to topological properties. These attain precise values that can only change in phase transitions where the states change their topological properties. While the scope of these effects is well understood for electronic and superconducting systems, a much richer range is accounted for photonic and in general bosonic systems. In these systems particles can be created and annihilated, which results in loss, gain, and nonlinearity. Recent years have seen a surge of activity to tailor these bosonic systems to their electronic counterparts, mostly by eliminating the mentioned differences. Going beyond these efforts, work of the supervisor and collaborators has demonstrated that topological physics extends beyond these mere analogies, leading to experimental demonstrations for laser, microwave resonator arrays, and polaritonic condensates.

What is missing is a detailed understanding of the actual scope of these extensions - how to systematically define the topological invariants, and classify systems in the manner achieved in the electronic context. This project tackles this question both generally, as well as practically by examining specific photonic and polaritonic model systems of experimental interest, and inquiring how to increase their robustness for possible applications. This project develops both analytical skills in quantum mechanics as well as numerical modelling skills.

Supervisor

Professor Henning Schomerus

Description

Quantum systems can encode information, but this information quickly becomes inaccessible if the associated degrees of freedom coupled with the environment. A key recent realization points towards a mechanism whereby quantum information can be localised by combining interactions with the generic disorder. This turns previously undesired artefacts into a highly valuable resource.

In previous work, we developed an efficient description of these so-called many-body localised systems based on a simple single-particle picture. This project aims to transfer this picture to a wider context, such as interacting spins or systems with additional internal degrees of freedom or dimensions. The project develops highly advanced numerical skills, such as DMRG, exact diagonalisation, and tensor network approaches. These will be applied to a range of model systems designed to yield conceptual insights that transfer to a wide range of systems.

Supervisor

Dr Amos Chan

Description

A fundamental question in theoretical physics is how quantum information gets scrambled in quantum many-body systems. Strongly interacting quantum many-body systems are notoriously difficult to analyse. A recent breakthrough has allowed physicists to make progress by utilising a new family of minimal models, called random quantum circuits, which capture universal signatures of chaos, but yet are analytically tractable since the details of the physical system are abandoned except for unitarity and locality.

This project aims to advance the understanding of many-body quantum chaos, especially in the presence of symmetries, by studying observables like the spectral form factor, entanglement dynamics, and out-of-time-order correlator. This project develops transferable numerical skills and analytical skills when possible.

Supervisor

Dr Amos Chan

Description

The difficulty of isolating a system from its environment in realistic set-ups motivates the study of open quantum systems, which are systems containing some microscopic regions coupled to external environments. How do open quantum many-body systems relax to its steady state(s) via dissipation? What are the universal signatures of dynamical phases in many-body open quantum systems? And how does the notion of chaos and localisation differ in open systems from isolated ones?

This project aims to advance the understanding of open quantum many-body systems, specifically by studying observables like spectral statistics and entanglement dynamics. This project develops transferable numerical skills and analytical skills when possible.

Supervisor

Professor Janne Ruostekoski

Description

Cold atomic gases cooperatively coupled with light provide a rich strongly interacting quantum many-body system. The atoms and photons both are treated as quantum fields that can be solved using stochastic simulations and phenomenological approximate models. Long-range interactions between atoms occur through exchange of photons. The atoms can also similarly be considered of mediating interactions between photons. The aim of the project is to study such long-range dipole-dipole interactions between the atoms and their cooperative behaviour. The research can also be related to the effects of continuous quantum measurement processes and non-trivial topologies.

Background

One of the success stories of quantum physics is how individual quantum particles have been controlled and manipulated for quite some time. However, the realisation of a fully controllable, strongly interacting and coherent quantum system, consisting of many particles, is an outstanding challenge. A new frontier of quantum physics has recently emerged utilising photons strongly coupled to quantum atomic gases, such as Bose-Einstein condensates and atoms trapped in optical lattice potentials. Such systems can utilise quantum phenomena for higher precision measurements and for quantum information processing while the interactions between photons and atoms can be engineered and manipulated for applications in quantum technologies.