PhD Student - Thermal Properties of Nanoscale Materials Group per l'Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia

Oxide (anti)ferroelectrics possess multiple functionalities suitable for energy conversion and storage. The objective of this project is to utilize oxide ferroelectric membranes to explore their potential in electrocaloric cooling and pyroelectric energy conversion, thereby transforming low-grade heat into usable energy. This endeavor will be undertaken through a synergistic collaboration between the GTNaM and ON groups at ICN2, leveraging their complementary expertise in phase transitions and membrane-based devices (GTNaM) along with the ON group's proficiency in the fundamental physics of ferroelectric materials and their applications. In addition to growing high-quality epitaxial layers at the Nanomaterials Growth Unit, the candidate will be involved in designing and fabricating membrane-based resistive devices to conduct heat capacity, electrocaloric, and pyroelectric measurements on ultrathin FE/AFE materials during rapid cycling under fast temperature or electric field switching, or both.

Main Tasks and responsibilities:

1. Growth of high-quality epitaxial oxide films.

2. Design and microfabrication of membrane-based calorimetric devices.

3. Heat capacity evaluation in nm thick oxide membranes.

4. Measurement of electrocaloric effects and pyroelectricity in ferro- and antiferroelectric oxide membranes.

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