The aim of the project is to design and fabricate molecular junctions with enhanced ability to convert waste heat to electricity making use of quantum interference.  For this purpose, room-temperature quantum interference effects will be exploited at the single-molecule level, with the outlook of integration in massively-parallel molecular arrays.  The PhD student will be a part of a highly interdisciplinary European project that brings together internationally leading scientists from four different countries. He/she will develop expertise in the areas of nano-fabrication, molecular charge transport, electrical characterization and data analysis.

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student with a strong background in (nano) physics, physical chemistry and/or material science. Excellent communication skills and fluency in English (both written and oral) are mandatory.

The work will be carried out under supervision of  Prof. Dr. Michel Calame. The position will be available from February 2018 on,  with a planned project duration of four years.

The working place will be at Empa in Dübendorf, which offers a highly stimulating research environment with state-of-the-art facilities  and a broad interdisciplinary surrounding. The PhD student will have access to the advanced  nanofabrication facilities available at the Center for Micro- and Nanoscience, ETH Zürich (FIRST lab) and at the Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center (BRNC), located at IBM Zürich laboratories.

For further information about the position please contact Dr. Mickael Perrin, Mickael.Perrin@empa.ch and visit our websites www.empa.ch/web/s405  and Empa-Video

We look forward to receiving your online application including a letter of motivation, CV, diplomas with transcripts and contact details of two referees.

Apply now 

Applications via email will not be considered.

This position on Empa website

The laboratory “Transport at Nanoscale Interfaces” at Empa Dübendorf and the laboratory “Advanced Fibers” at Empa St. Gallen are looking for strong candidates with a background in biomedical engineering, physics, electrical engineering, biochemistry or a related field for a master thesis research project.

Studying the interactions between biomolecules is crucial for the fundamental understanding of biochemical processes, drug development, and future medical diagnosis. Transducers which directly convert chemical interactions to electrical or optical signals are a promising tool, as they can be fabricated at low cost and integrated into multiplexed systems. To enable the specificity of such systems, understanding the processes at the liquid-solid interphase is of great interest.

In this project, you will develop a sensor based on hybrid transducing, i.e. combining optical sensing based on transmission interferometric adsorption sensors (TInAS)^[1] and electrical sensing based on Ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs)^[2] to study the adsorption of molecules onto surfaces. Your work will include micro fabrication of the sensor devices in a cleanroom environment as well as adapting a measurement setup for the combined optical and electrical readout. Further, the project will involve planning and execution of first experiments to study the interaction of proteins with immobilized ligands on the sensor surface.

You should be highly motivated to work on a multidisciplinary research project in contact with different research groups. For applications (with motivation and CV) or any further questions please contact Mathias Wipf (mathias.wipf@empa.ch).

References

[1] M. Heuberger and T. Balmer, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 2007, 40, 7245-7254.

[2]. See e.g. M. Wipf et al., Label-Free FimH Protein Interaction Analysis using Silicon Nanoribbon BioFETs, ACS Sensors 2016, 1 (6), 781–788.