HIGH-EFFICIENCY HIGH-POWER LASER BEAMING IN-SPACE SYSTEMS BASED ON SIC (RePowerSiC)

High power laser transmission (HPLT) consists of the transmission of power via laser onto a photovoltaic receiver. The transmission could be through optic fiber, replacing conventional copper wires, or through free space, suitable for aerospace environments. There are many applications of this technology, such as the simultaneous transfer of power and data or optically powering remote antennas, aerial vehicles or even satellites.

Current HPLT technology faces two major limitations: the intrinsic entropic losses associated to low bandgap materials (such as GaAs) and the series resistance losses that degrade the device performance at high power densities. To overcome these limitations, RePowerSiC aims to develop a new breakthrough LPC technology based on two key elements, the use of silicon carbide (SiC) and the development of new device architectures.

The PhD work proposed is integrated within the European PATHFINDER project. The aim is to develop trustable TCAD modelings for SiC laser power converters, measure critical material properties of SiC crystals and test the electrical characteristics of the LPC prototypes.

This PhD work will be developed at CITIUS (Singular Research Center on Intelligent Technologies) at the University of Santiago de Compostela, in collaboration with our project partners from Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU), Universidad de Jaén, Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet, SenSiC, Alminica AB, and with several space agencies and companies.

CiTIUS is part of the Red de Centros Singulares de Investigación de la USC and is one of the 10 Research Centers accredited by the Xunta de Galicia (Red CIGUS), standing out in the field of AI.

The center has a team of over 140 people, including 30 senior researchers and more than 60 theses under supervision. In the last 3 years (2021-23), the center had a budget of over 14 million euros, with nearly 30% from European projects. During the same period, the center published around 300 indexed publications, with 75% of the publications in first quartile journals and 45% in the first decile.

The center currently has 9 projects under the framework program, acting as the coordinator for 3 MSCA Doctoral Networks, 1 ERC Consolidator Grant project, and 1 Pathfinder project (the one related with this PhD).

This research team at CiTIUS works in photovoltaic technology, working on material properties, device simulations, electrical, heat transfer, optical and structural characterization of solar cells and photovoltaic concentration (CPV).

The group has more than 20 years of expertise in developing in-house-built semiconductor device simulation tools and lasers for different application fields.

REQUIREMENTS

• A Master’s degree in Physics, Electronic Engineering, Materials Science, or similar degrees.
• Knowledge on semiconductor physics and electronic device physics.
• Computational skills are highly desirable.
• Good academic record.
• Great motivation for scientific work and ability for teamwork.
• Full proficiency in English and basic knowledge of Spanish (or commitment to get it!).
• Starting date around October 2024.