Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, invites applications for an appointment as a Post-Doctoral Researcher in atomistic simulation, process development and materials characterisation of aluminium nitride (AlN) based piezoelectric films. This is required to support a research project co-funded by an industry partner through the SFI CONNECT Centre. The candidate will contribute to development of AlN material with enhanced piezoelectric properties for application into microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensors and actuators.

Aluminium nitride has piezoelectric properties that are stable at high temperatures due to its high Curie Temperature (1100°C). This and other properties such as low acoustic and dielectric losses, high acoustic wave velocity and compatibility with standard silicon manufacturing processes, makes AlN a good material candidate for electro-mechanical transduction in various MEMS sensors and actuators. However, the principal drawback of standard AlN material is its relatively low piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃~5 pC/N). The development of AlN based materials with enhanced piezoelectric properties is currently of great interest to academia and industry. It has been demonstrated in state-of-the-art literature that by doping of AlN with scandium atoms the d₃₃ piezoelectric coefficient of AlN can be drastically increased (~500 %). This in turn, significantly improves an electromechanical coupling coefficient, which is one of the most important parameters of piezoelectric MEMS devices. The doping of AlN holds great promise as a method for enhancement of its piezoelectric properties that can fulfil the requirement for high performance MEMS transducers. The PiezoMEMS research group in Tyndall National Institute is actively involved in development of various piezoelectric MEMS devices and is currently expanding its activity towards theoretical and experimental research on AlN-based thin films with enhanced piezoelectric properties.

The appointment will be made via the EDGE programme, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Action in Ireland. In a series of calls, EDGE is offering 71 prestigious Fellowships for experienced post-doctoral researchers relocating to Ireland. EDGE is also a training and development programme for scientific excellence, offering a unique combination of interdisciplinary research themes, career development opportunities and industry engagement to the community of Fellows we recruit.

Responsibilities:

• Literature review and theoretical study on piezoelectric AlN films with improved piezoelectric properties,

• First principles modelling of AlN material with a view to improving its piezoelectric properties through material doping, proper selection of substrate material, processing conditions, etc.

• Modelling of AlN material to understand the doping and substrate influence on piezoelectric constants, elastic constants, dielectric constants, lattice constants as a function of doping type and doping concentration,

• Participate in process development of new AlN films in cooperation with Tyndall fabrication facilities,

• Perform characterisation of developed AlN films to understand material electrical and physical properties,

• Participate in design and characterisation of test structures and devices in cooperation with MEMS design and test engineers,

• Attend project meetings to provide technical results and advice to project partners,

• Write and co-author scientific publications from research work,

• Assist in group activities.

Requirements:

• Doctoral degree or equivalent in physics, chemistry, computational science/engineering or materials science/engineering.

• High level of expertise and solid publication record appropriate to career stage in first principles / ab initio computation of materials, using for example density functional theory, in particular simulating dielectric or piezoelectric properties.

• Demonstrable experience with a variety of materials simulation software, data analysis tools, scripting and high-performance computing environments.

• Knowledge in surface and structure analysis methods, e.g. XRD, SEM, and AFM, etc.

• Knowledge in electrical characterisation methods, e.g. impedance measurements, capacitance-voltage measurements, current-voltage measurements, piezoelectric properties measurements, etc.

• Excellent communication skills and good record of conference presentations,

• Evidence of effective project planning, working to deadlines and strong organizational skills,

• Ability to work in a team and also on own initiative to solve technical challenges.

Deadline for applications:

To apply, please send your CV with an email outlining your interest to Dr Alan Mathewson via the contact details on the EDGE webpage.  The closing date is Monday 30th October 2017 for the EDGE application process.