General Information

INSTITUTION: Institute of Low Temperature and Structural Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław Doctoral School of Institutes of Polish Academy of Sciences

POSITION: PhD student (NCN research project PRELUDIUM BIS-3)

SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE: physics

DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT: 8 February 2023

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31 May 2023

DATE OF COMPETITION SETTLEMENT: up to 7 days after an interview

DATE OF COMMENCEMENT OF EDUCATION AND PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT: 1 October 2023

LINK TO WSD IPAN WEBSITE: http://wsdipan.intibs.pl

LINK TO INTiBS PAN WEBSITE: http://intibs.pl

KEY WORDS: low-temperature physics, topological semimetals, dilatometric experiments

Competition Announcement

Wrocław Doctoral School of Institutes of Polish Academy of Sciences (WDS IPAS) announces a special recruitment for a PhD student – scholarship holder in the research project Detection of relativistic fermions in topological semimetals with magnetostriction, carried out on behalf of the National Science Center (program PRELUDIUM BIS-3, No. 2021/43/O/ST3/03000) in the Laboratory for Low-Temperature Physics, Division of Magnetic Research, Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroclaw.

Recruitment is conducted in accordance with the Rules of Recruitment to the Wrocław Doctoral School of Institutes of Polish Academy of Sciences for 2022/2023 academic year https://www.intibs.pl/en/for-students/rules-of-recruitment.html and the regulations of Awarding Funds for the Implementation of Tasks Financed by the National Science Center (NCN) in the Area of Research Projects, adopted by the Resolution of the Council of the National Science Center No. 79/2021.

Requirements

• a master's degree or an equivalent degree in physics, materials engineering or related disciplines entitling to study at a doctoral school (or persons who will obtain this title before starting education, i.e. before October 1, 2023) a diploma (or a certificate from a university confirming master's degree or equivalent) before October 1, 2023 (failure to meet this requirement will result in removal from the list of doctoral students),
• scientific interest in low-temperature experimental physics, cryogenics, etc.,
• motivation to scientific work, reliability, independence, teamwork skills, creativity, high personal culture,
• ability to fulfill admission requirements for the Wrocław Doctoral School of Institutes of Polish Academy of Sciences.
• Responsibilities
• implementation, within 48 months, the educational program of the doctoral school followed by completing a doctoral degree (at the latest within 12 months after the end of the project),
• implementation of an individual research plan, consistent with the research project proposed,
• submission of application for financial funding for a foreign 6-month internship in a scientific center selected by the Project Manager within the competition held by the National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA), but not earlier than in the second year of the project. If succeeded, an internship program should be completed during the project.

Scholarship

The PRELUDIUM BIS-3 doctoral scholarship will be paid for 48 months in amount of:

5000 PLN per month (the amount will be reduced by the cost of mandatory social security contributions, etc., about 24%) until the month in which the doctoral student's mid-term evaluation at the doctoral school will be conducted,

6000 PLN per month (the amount will be reduced by the cost of mandatory social security contributions, etc., about 24%) after the month in which the student's mid-term evaluation at doctoral school will be conducted.

Required documents

• A candidate is requested to submit documents specified in the rules of recruitment for the Wrocław Doctoral School of Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the academic year 2022/23 https://www.intibs.pl/goto/WDS_recruitment_2022-23. The documents should be submitted using one of the available options by 31 May 2023:
• in person at the School’s Secretariat Office at the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 2 Okólna St. in Wrocław, from 9 am to 3 pm,
• by registered mail or courier (the date on which the Secretariat Office received the documents is considered to be the delivery date) to the following address: WSD IPAN, ul. Okólna 2, 50-422 Wrocław,
• by email to the address . Please be informed that the original documents should be delivered before the studies start.
• In the subject line of an application please provide: PRELUDIM BIS-3-TC.

Description of the research project

Appreciation of the topological aspects of band structure has fundamentally changed the way we understand the electronic properties of solids. This is particularly seen in certain three-dimensional semimetals characterized by bulk band crossings in their electronic structures, which are expected to give rise to gapless electronic excitations and topological features that underlie exotic physical properties. Topological semimetals host massless relativistic fermions as quasiparticles described by the Dirac and Weyl equations. The research interest in materials with linearly dispersing bands is fueled by their technological potential for exploiting the relativistic nature of the electrons in high-speed electronics.

A research project Detection of relativistic fermions in topological semimetals with magnetostriction addresses a fundamental scientific problem related to experimental investigations of Dirac and Weyl quasiparticles: First-principles calculations and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements can point towards new materials with nontrivial band topology. However, other experimental signatures of relativistic fermions are often subtle and indirect, since in these materials conventional, massive charge carriers exist as well. Hence, new experimental methods for determining the relativistic character of the quasiparticles are highly desirable to set the stage for investigations of their relevance for electronic applications.

The main research task is intended to study relativistic quasiparticles in topological semimetals using the magnetostriction as an experimental probe. It is planned to perform comprehensive investigations of the angle-dependent field-induced length change of selected representative topological semimetals with bulk band crossings sufficiently close to the Fermi energy, and hence giving rise to robust gapless electronic excitations. The second intention, which constitutes the main experimental challenge of the project, is to explore effect of uniaxial stress on the magnetostriction. Because this thermodynamic quantity is sensitive to the position of the Fermi level, it is planned to study magnetostrictive effects when the enclosed nodes will be tuned under uniaxial tension to the Fermi level, and thus to search for new physics.

Supplementary information can be found in the paper by  T. Cichorek et al. Nature Communications 13, 3868 (2022) as well as at https://cms.intibs.pl/zespoly/lfnt.

Participation in the project includes a 6-month research internship at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, when a PhD student will be awarded by an additional funding from NAWA.

Additional information

For additional information, please contact the Project Manager, prof. dr hab. Tomasz Cichorek (, tel. +48 71 395 4265).

Personal information

Candidates' personal data are collected and processed by the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research of Polish Academy of Sciences in Wrocław in accordance with the information on personal data processing available at https://bip.intibs.pl/artykuly/173/rodo.