Single-exposure Bragg Coherent Diffractive Imaging of Domains in Epitaxial Thin Films
Project ID: 2531bc1597
(You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Advanced Materials
Research Area(s):
materials
physics
UCL Lead department: London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN)
Lead Supervisor: Ian Robinson
Partner Organisation: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Stipend enhancement: £ 2,500
Project Summary:
This PhD research project, based in the London Centre for Nanotechnology, will try to understand the role of domains in thin film samples of tantalum, niobium, cuprate and nickelate superconducting materials, grown on crystalline substrates.
Why this research is important
The films to be investigated will test the fundamental idea that chiral domain contacts can cause asymmetry in the transverse resistance of thin films in the absence of magnetic fields.
Who you will be working with
Dr Garth Williams at Brookhaven and Prof Ian Robinson at UCL
What you will be doing
The project includes a placement at the Bragg Coherent Diffractive Imaging beamline of Brookhaven National Lab (BNL, USA). We will use specially fabricated triangular-shaped optical apertures to structure the illuminating X-ray beam to specifically exclude the formation of twin images when the data are inverted to real space images.
Who we are looking for
Energetic physicist, materials scientist or engineer with curiosity into understanding the role of external constraints (grain- and domain-boundaries) on the basic transport properties of thin film materials. Skills and interest in the use of artificial intelligence methods would be particularly valuable for the development of segmentation and inversion algorithms for the inherent “phase problem” of X-ray diffraction.