About the position
PhD student (m/f/d) -
Hybrid molecular beam epitaxy of strongly correlated metals
Despite decades of research and dramatic improvements in the understanding of electronic properties, materials exhibiting a sizeable electron correlation reveal some peculiar phenomena that are currently not well understood. Recent efforts in synthesizing ultraclean systems with sizeable electron correlation – such as the vanadates – have revealed transport phenomena, that cannot be explained within the existing scope of our understanding. Key to these discoveries is the synthesis of material systems with sizeable electron correlation and a very low defect density.
In this project, the successful candidate will work on the synthesis and characterization of perovskite oxide vanadates and niobates using hybrid molecular beam epitaxy. Particularly interesting in this context is the growth of the ultraclean correlated metals SrVO3, CaVO3, as well as SrNbO3 and CaNbO3 in the bulk 3D limit and the ultrathin quasi 2D limit. In addition, Mott insulator materials, such as ReVO3 (Re = rare earth element) will be synthesized and their defect type and concentration will be characterized using conventional defect characterization methods that have been successfully employed in semiconductor materials to demonstrate the quality that can be achieved in these material systems synthesized by hybrid MBE.
