Starting date: July 2012
Ref: SAM-20140206-LOWZ-PIES

Description of the position:

The Scientific Instrumentation Unit of the SAM department focuses on the development of correlative microscopy for high-resolution high-sensitivity nano-analytics. The research activities cover fundamentals, instrument development and applications.
In order to get chemical information with the highest sensitivity and highest lateral resolution, we have investigated the feasibility of combining Transmission Electron Microscopy with Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and have developed a dedicated prototype instrument consisting of a state-ofthe-art 200 kV FEG TEM equipped with a FIB column and dedicated SIMS extraction optics, mass spectrometer and detectors. This unique combination of high-resolution microscopy and highsensitivity chemical mapping on a single instrument leads to a new level of correlative microscopy.
In this context, we are looking for a post-doc researcher who will participate in both developing innovative methodologies for the integrated TEM-SIMS instrument and in acquiring the required fundamental knowledge to characterize nanoscale features containing low Z elements by correlation of structural information with sub-nm resolution and high sensitivity chemical information. We will concentrate on selected case studies, namely H and D in steel and solar cells, Li in batteries and B in semi-conductors. In each of these case studies, we will use the TEMSIMS technique to correlate the distribution and concentration of the LowZ element (detected, imaged and quantified by SIMS) to the microstructural details (imaged by TEM).

Profile:

• PhD in Physics or Materials Science
• Strong hands-on experience in Transmission Electron Microscopy is mandatory
• Knowledge of correlative workflows would be an asset
• Knowledge in Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry would be an asset
• Strong experimental skills
• Fluency in English (scientific exchanges) is a must
• Excellent communication, organisational, flexibility and interpersonal skills with a mandatory teamspirit

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