University of Bath
About the Project
The University of Bath is inviting applications for the following PhD project commencing on 30 September 2024 under the supervision of Dr Sara Dale in the Department of Physics.
Eligible applicants will be considered for a fully-funded studentship – for more information, see the Funding Notes section below.
Overview of the Research:
The isolation of graphene in 2004 has led to an explosion of research into thin layers of 2D materials. The unique properties of graphene such as zero band gap, high strength and high mobility, make it an incredibly important material whose properties can easily be manipulated with various doping methods. This PhD project focusses on doping graphene materials with ionic liquids to reach high carrier densities and ultimately, finding new electronic states which have thus far only been predicted theoretically. Ionic liquids are molten salts which have shown great promise for inducing high carrier concentrations in 2D materials. In this project, a series of ionic liquids will be tested and evaluated for their doping properties through fabricating graphene into field effect transistors with the ionic liquid as the gate dielectric. The aims are to understand and manipulate the formation and structure of the electrochemical double layer at the 2D material/ionic liquid interface and, by surpassing the current limits of achievable doping, explore the potential new physical phenomena in this extreme regime.
This project will utilise the class 6 clean room here at the University of Bath to fabricate graphene field effect transistors and then perform low-temperature transport and magnetotransport measurements (a state of the art 8 Tesla ICE Oxford cryostat is available for the latter). Full clean room fabrication training will be provided during the PhD. Experimental work on doping graphene will be complemented with theoretical calculations to predict how the band structure of graphene will change with different doping conditions.
Project keywords: graphene, 2D Materials, Ionic Liquids, Field Effect Transistors
Candidate Requirements:
Applicants should hold, or expect to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second Class UK Honours degree (or the equivalent) in Physics, Natural Sciences or Chemistry. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous.
Non-UK applicants must meet our English language entry requirement.
Enquiries and Applications:
Applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Sara Dale on email address [email protected] before applying to find out more about the project and to discuss their suitability for the role.
Formal applications should be made via the University of Bath’s online application form for a PhD in Physics.
In the ‘Funding your studies’ section of the application form, please select ‘EPSRC DTP’ from the first drop-down menu. In the ‘Your PhD project’ section, please quote the project title and lead supervisor’s name in the appropriate fields. Failure to complete these steps will cause a delay in processing your application and may cause you to miss the deadline.
More information about applying for a PhD at Bath may be found on our website.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:
We value a diverse research environment and aim to be an inclusive university, where difference is celebrated and respected. We welcome and encourage applications from under-represented groups.
If you have circumstances that you feel we should be aware of that have affected your educational attainment, then please feel free to tell us about it in your application form. The best way to do this is a short paragraph at the end of your personal statement.
To help us track our recruitment effort, please indicate in your email – cover/motivation letter where (globalvacancies.org) you saw this job posting.