A 3.5-year PhD studentship in the next-generation 2D materials for device applications
Supervisors: Dr Steven Schofield (UCL) and Dr Johnson Goh (IMRE, A*Star)

Applications are invited for a 3.5-year PhD studentship in a collaborative programme run by the Industrial Doctorate Centre in Molecular Modelling and Materials Science of UCL and A*STAR of Singapore.
The joint studentship will develop next generation two-dimensional (2D) materials for nanoelectronic and sensor applications. The Nobel-prize winning discovery of graphene in 2004 has led to a strong resurgence of interest in 2D materials, with a wide range of potential applications from high speed electronics to ultrasensitive (bio)molecular sensors. To this end, there is great current interest in a class of materials know as the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). These materials, like graphite, naturally form in layered structures where 2D sheets of covalently bonded material are held together in stacks via Van der Waals interactions. Their chemical formulae take the form of MX2, where M is a transitional metal and X is a chalcogen (see Figure). TMDs exhibit a wide range of (opto)electronic and chemical properties because they have a range of band gaps such that they can insulating, semiconducting, or metallic. In addition they can exhibit exotic correlated electron phenomena such as superconductivity, charge density waves, and metal-insulator transitions. Importantly, their surfaces are extremely versatile, with broad chemical functionality and tailorability, offering opportunities as highly sensitive (bio)chemical sensors.

In this project, the student will create and study 2D TMD thin films using ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS), complementary laboratory and synchrotron based measurement techniques, and computational modelling. Research will be conducted both at UCL and in Singapore using a dual approach to sample preparation utilising both in-situ and ex-situ methods. In-situ preparation will be performed by epitaxial growth using single crystal substrates, while ex-situ preparation will be via growth of bulk material followed by in-situ sample cleaving. UCL has a long history of the growth of such materials and this work will be done in close collaboration with materials expert Dr Chris Howard. These experimental activities will be strongly supported by collaboration with computational theorists.
Due to funding restrictions, the studentship is open to UK/EU nationals who have or expect to gain a 2:1 or first class MSci or MChem degree; or 2:2 minimum BSc plus stand-alone masters degree with merit (or an equivalent qualification) in Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, or Materials Science.

If you wish to apply the studentship, please send your CV and a covering letter to Steven Schofield (s.schofield@ucl.ac.uk) as soon as possible. Applications will be accepted until 31 March 2014. However, the post will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate is found. The starting date for this project will be September 2014.