Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Phonon Spectroscopy

We are seeking

to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Phonon Spectroscopy. This full-time, fixed-term post is available for 12 months until 30 June 2026, and is an exciting and challenging role which has the potential to contribute to the development of open source software. Vibrational modes in solids (phonons) affect fundamental physical properties such as the conduction of heat and sound and probing these modes provides a wealth of information about a materials system. Recent advances have made it possible to measure vibrational modes of materials at nanometer resolution within the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM). This is a spatial resolution many times greater than the conventional tools used to probe vibrational modes, such as IR and Raman spectroscopy. This development opens up new directions in materials characterization (e.g. FS Hage, RJ Nicholls et al., Sci. Adv. 4, eaar7495 (2018)). To support this new technique, we have developed theoretical framework based on first-principles, quantum mechanical calculations which allows a direct interpretation of the experimental measurement. The post holder will develop methods for interpreting experimental EELS spectra arising from phonon vibrations using methods based on DFT or molecular dynamics. The work will be carried out in close collaboration with experimental groups in Oxford Materials. All applications must be made online using the Oxford University E-Recruitment system, no later than 12 noon on Friday 4 April 2025.