Among magnetically ordered materials, ferromagnetic materials are the most studied and have found the most applications. Many other types of magnetic orders exist, however. This includes antiferromagnetic orders in which the atomic magnetic moments align so that the net magnetic moment vanishes or non-collinear magnetic orders. These magnetic orders are much less explored, but are common in nature and can offer various advantages or new functionalities compared to ferromagnetic materials.

We are mostly interested in spintronics in these materials, i.e., we want to understand how spin of the electron influences their transport properties. Spintronics methods provide means of accessing and utilizing the magnetic order and thus could open a way to applications of magnetic system other than ferromagnets. Key phenomena which we want to study are charge and spin currents and their interaction with the magnetic order, spin currents generated by these materials or torques on the magnetic generated by currents in nanoscopic devices.

The goal of the project is both to understand the spintronics phenomena in complex magnetic materials on a fundamental level and to evaluate the spintronics effects in realistic systems. The work will mostly concentrate on quantum transport calculations, both in bulk (i.e., infinite and periodic) systems and in nanoscopic devices. Since we strive to describe realistic system, ab-initio methods (density functional theory) methods will be used, though toy model approaches might also be used in some cases.

The work will be done in close collaboration with experimentalists in our department as well as with theoretical and experimental groups abroad. This includes in particular the group of Jairo Sinova at JGU in Mainz and the group of Cladia Felser at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden.

Location: Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic. The PhD program is Physics of Nanostructures at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the Charles University.

Deadlines: It is necessary to apply for the PhD program before 30/04/2018. The program starts in October, but you could also start working earlier.

Length: 3-4 years

Contact: If you have any questions send me an email to [email protected]. If you want to apply please send your CV. Some more info can be found at https://www.fzu.cz/~zeleznyj/.