Career Acceleration Studentship in Precursor Synthesis and Electrodeposition of Semiconducting Chalcogenides (974718EB)

hD Supervisors: Phil Bartlett and Gill Reid

PhD Description:

A fully-funded 4 year PhD studentship in precursor synthesis and electrodeposition of semiconducting chalcogenides coordination is available at the University of Southampton. The studentship will be associated with the EPSRC programme grant ADEPT (Advanced Devices by ElectroPlaTing; https://www.southampton.ac.uk/adept/index.page). In addition to carrying out PhD research the student will be closely involved in undergraduate teaching (20% time commitment in years 1-3), and will be supported by mentoring to achieve Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

The ADEPT programme will use electrodeposition to structure semiconductors for device applications including thermoelectrics, phase change memory and IR sensors on a micro and nano scale, and involves research groups in physics, chemistry and electronic engineering in the Universities of Southampton, Warwick and Nottingham. A cohort of six students was appointed on the project in 2017, with a further four students starting in 2018. They will work closely with the team of academic investigators and postdoctoral researchers in a highly interdisciplinary project.

This project is concerned with the production and evaluation of inorganic precursor complexes for the non-aqueous electrodeposition of semiconducting chalcogenide materials, for example, tin selenide, lead telluride and germanium telluride. These materials are of particular interest for thermoelectric and solid state memory applications. We have shown previously that it is possible to electrodeposit the phase change memory alloy Ge2Sb2Te5 into nano-cells and demonstrate reversible switching (http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5MH00030K). 

This project will involve synthetic inorganic chemistry to produce new precursor compounds suitable for electrodeposition of the target materials from weakly coordinating solvents (full training will be available). There will also be opportunities to develop expertise in a range of materials characterisation techniques including use of our excellent in-house diffraction, microscopy and spectroscopy facilities.

The student will participate in undergraduate teaching in either inorganic or physical chemistry. In year 1 this will involve teaching lab activities and support teaching with a member of staff (e.g. workshops), but in years 2 and 3, after gaining some experience, there will be opportunities to host tutorials or undertake other similar teaching roles.

Informal enquiries may be directed to Prof. Phil Bartlett (P.N.Bartlett@soton.ac.uk_ or Prof. Gill Reid (G.Reid@soton.ac.uk). The project is funded for 4 years and welcomes applicants from the UK and EU who have or expect to obtain at least an upper second class degree in Chemistry or another relevant discipline. Funding will cover fees and a stipend at current research council rates (201718 and subject to increase in 201819) of £ 14,553 per annum.

Due to funding restrictions this position is only open to UK/EU applicants

Applications for a PhD in Chemistry should be submitted online at https://studentrecords.soton.ac.uk/BNNRPROD/bzsksrch.P_Search

Please ensure you select the academic session 2018-2019 in the academic year field and click on the Research radio button.  Enter Chemistry in the search text field.

Please place Phil Bartlett and Gill Reid in the field for proposed supervisor/project. Any queries on the application process should be made to pgafnes@soton.ac.uk

Applications will be considered as they are received, and the position may be filled before the stated deadline if suitable candidates are identified

Closing Date: 31 Mar 2018
Post Type: PhD Studentship (Funded)