DC12 (Starting date October 2025): Design and Characterization of Novel Surface Acoustic Wave Devices

We offer 18 positions with very competitive salaries in Italy (46.94 k€/year), Germany (47.31 k€/year), France (54.69 k€/year), Spain (44.45 k€/year), Switzerland (61.73 k€/year), Belgium (48.0 k€/year), and Czech Republic (39.47 k€/year). The HINA consortium will also address the key doctoral training elements of academic and transferrable skills provision by establishing exciting and attractive academic and transferrable skills modules. In the different Area of Knowledge of the HINA programme, a specific programme of specialisation, tailored on the needs of the chosen research field available at the different partner places, will be proposed to the PhD students and specified in their Personal Career Development Plan. We will ensure co-ordinated provision of these key doctoral training elements that can best leverage on the international capabilities of the consortium, on its unique and complementary skills base reflecting both national and regional strengths and, on the on-going developments of new curriculum in the fields of materials, modelling, devices and systems for new telecommunication, computing, sensing (IoT & IoH) technologies. The academic skill provision will build from the assumption that all the centre skills education programmes will be modular, with specific credit modules and available across the partner centre sites using both traditional (lecture, seminar, summer school, workshop) and now widely developed web-based delivery by most of HINA academic partners and world leading universities. A key topic for 21st century engineers will be technology management including topics such as technology innovation and intellectual asset management. The opportunity for the DCs to explore and acquire these multidisciplinary skills within the international context of HINA will uniquely position them for the future. The rapid race of engineering research and the steady integration of engineered technology in our infrastructure and life, calls for more involvement from engineers, scientists, and technologists in the setting of public policy and in participation in the civic arena.

18 PhDs (doctoralm candidates -DCs) will start from November 2024, the starting date can be delayed until the end of October 2025.

DC12 (Starting date October 2025): Design and Characterization of Novel Surface Acoustic Wave Devices

At School of Computation, Information and Technology / Technische Universitaet Muenchen

Munich, Germany, https://www.cit.tum.de/en/cit/home/ & https://www.tum.de/

Supervisors:  A. Hagelauer

Objectives: Small size and high frequency (> 6 GHz) SAW resonators based on KNTN with high K2 for acousto-optic transducers and acoustic wave coupling with spin waves: (i) develop design techniques for novel SAW devices (ii) modelling and simulation of SAW resonators based on literature data using COM model or the P-matrix models (ii) building on well-known models from literature and the models will be adapted to the new materials and structures models for SAW resonators and filters with new materials (iii) novel SAW resonators designs based on measured KNTN film properties; (iv) FEM modelling and simulation allows a deeper look in the physics of the resonators to optimize them in term of losses (acoustic, electrical) and energy confinement; (iv) innovative designs for guided SAW based resonators with reduced footprint.

The MSCA Doctoral Network HINA project proposes to consider the hybrid integration of alkaline niobate-tantalate thin films, (K,Na)(Nb,Ta)O3 (KNTN, materials with the highest known experimentally measured electro-optic, nonlinear, piezoelectric, elasto-optic coefficients) in photonic and acoustic devices for advanced semiconductor photonics platforms. The final goal of the project is to develop a thin film technology not only offering the state-of-the-art performances but also with reasonable price and viable for real industrial applications in order to stimulate the transfer of newly developed products and technologies by the industry and to help enterprises to withstand global competitive pressures.

The HINA project links world-leading research groups at Academia and Industry to give a combined, integrated approach of synthesis/fabrication, characterization, modeling/theory linked to concepts for materials integration in devices and systems. Such a science-supported total engineering approach will lead towards highly efficient electro-active and nonlinear materials designed towards integrated device needs and viable for industry. Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will focus on this common research objective, applying a multidisciplinary bottom-up approach, which can be summarized by: "engineered molecule- advanced material- designed device - smart system". The HINA project also seeks to intensify the relationship between academic and private sectors, and to train highly skilled young researchers for new materials and device technologies. Both are essential to provide a strong European lead over the rest of the world in this highly competitive technologies.

The HINA consortium partners recognise that engineering graduates face a rapidly changing work environment, with short product development times and life cycles, rapid evolution of knowledge, new methods of working, and, of course, new career paths and opportunities outside those of traditional PhD academia and research. It is therefore essential to prepare them to address both these challenges along with the complex technical, social, commercial and ethical questions raised by emerging engineering technologies (e.g. nanotechnologies, energy, healthcare, environment, raising living standards, new communication & information technologies, data era, etc.) and practices.

Project partners: University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté/FEMTO-ST Institute (coordinator, FR); INSTM/ University of Catania (IT), Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ), Université Paris Cité /MPQ (FR), Annealsys (FR), Université Lyon 1 Claude Bernard/CP2M (FR), Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (DE), Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik (DE), AIXACCT (DE), CNRS/C2N (FR), Technische Universitaet Muenchen (DE), Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (ES), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE), PIEMACS (CH), LUMIPHASE (CH)

Associated partners: ETHZ (CH), Air Liquide (FR), ST Microelectronics (FR & IT), Cristal Laser (FR), BREVALOR (CH)

Eligibility criteria

• Master degree or equivalent degree which formally entitle to embark on a doctorate;
• Must not have resided or carried out main activity (work, studies, etc) in the country of host organisation for more than 12 months in the last 3 years (short stays for holidays do not count);
• Have not been awarded a doctoral degree.

Skills/Qualifications:

• Master degree or equivalent degree which formally entitle to embark on a doctorate;
• Fluent English (oral and written);
• Excellent IT skills (Microsoft office, image editors);
• Background and expertise in the field of PhD topic;

Personal skills:

• High motivation, excellent interpersonal skills, good time and stress management, excellent written and oral skills

Languages:

• ENGLISH Level: Excellent