High spatial resolution three-dimensional characterization of electric fields during field emission using electron holography

A PhD studentship is available in Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany within the framework of a European Union Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) project entitled “Sources, Interaction with Matter, Detection and Analysis of Low Energy Electrons”.

The aim of the PhD project is to using advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques to develop experimental methods for the quantitative reconstruction of electrostatic fields around individual sub-micrometre-sized electrically biased needle-shaped specimens, in order to extend theoretical descriptions of the technique of near field emission scanning electron microscopy.
The project will involve 3 month secondments at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, the Institute of Scientific Instruments, Brno, Czech Republic and the University of York, United Kingdom.

Tasks
The student will develop new experimental approaches based on off-axis electron holography to measure electric fields around needle-shaped specimens that are supplied by project partners.
The work will be carried out using two state-of-the-art transmission electron microscopes in Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Approaches for reducing electron-beam-induced charging effects will be investigated experimentally and the measured electric fields will be compared with models in collaboration with the project partners.

Requirements
Suitable candidates should have a strong background in experimental physics, materials science or a related discipline. Skills in transmission electron microscopy, transport measurements, nanofabrication, data analysis, image processing or finite element simulations are welcomed.
The candidate should be fluent in English and interested in working in an interdisciplinary and international team of scientists.
For this project, at the time of recruitment the candidate must not have resided, studied or worked in Germany for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the start date of their employment. Eligibility requirements are set by European Research Council and can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/jobs/jobDetails/33927821.