PhD Position available: “Anti-Stokes Cooling for Fluidics”
A PhD position is available to work under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Frank Cichos at the department Molecular Nanophotonics at Leipzig University on the development of optical refrigeration techniques for fluidic applications. This experimental PhD project is part of a joint project with Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.
Temperature is one of the most fundamental parameters in physics, chemistry and biology. It determines the physical state of materials, the rate of chemical reactions, the fluctuations of macromolecules or the metabolism of living organisms. Yet, temperature is often only controlled as a global parameter of a large volume slowly changing in time, e.g., by electric refrigerators or hot plates.
In recent years, local heating by optically pumped nanostructures has attracted great interest for applications in life sciences, chemistry and physics. Local dynamic temperature fields generated by plasmonic nanostructures enable high-precision manipulation of soft materials at the micro- and nanoscale through nonequilibrium processes. In contrast, optical cooling of liquids and solids is still rare and difficult to achieve.
In this project, we aim to develop techniques and materials for the optical cooling of nanostructures in liquids based on the anti-Stokes luminescence of crystals doped with rare earth ions. The developed techniques will be used to explore fundamental processes of local cooling for fluidic applications.
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate with an excellent Master’s degree in Physics with excellent English proficiency. The successful candidate will perform cutting edge experimental research on the optical refrigeration of soft condensed matter systems. The candidate should be committed to collaborative and interdisciplinary work, and have excellent oral and written communication skills (records of creative and independent scientific research and active participation in its dissemination in peer-reviewed journals are welcome).
The experimental work will allow the successful applicant to acquire expert skills and knowledge on innovative micro-optical manipulation and detection techniques, interfacial hydrodynamics and non-equilibrium physics. He will learn to apply modern techniques of image processing, feedback control and machine learning. Experience with modern optical microscopy techniques as well as image and time-series analysis would be useful.
The working language is English. Salaries will be according to DFG standards.
Applications including 1) a letter of interest (max. 1 page), clearly stating the specific motivation of the candidate to join the group, work on this project, career goals, etc., 2) a CV, 3) grade transcripts or equivalent record of excellent academic performance, clearly indicating courses taken and grades in each course (for MS and BS), 4) the names of at least two consenting referees should be sent to cichos@physik.uni-leipzig.de. The application deadline is June 30, 2022.
Please visit our group website for more details about our research:
https://www.uni-leipzig.de/~mona
