Topological Materials Synthesis and Device Applications
This project synthesizes topological materials to control spin/charge transport for low-power electronics and memory devices, using advanced facilities for fabrication and characterization.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
NRC Research Associateship Programs has archived this opportunity.
Funder: NRC Research Associateship Programs
Due Dates: May 1, 2025 (Application Deadline)
Funding Amounts: $99,200 stipend plus $3,000 travel allowance; fellowship duration typically 2-3 years
Summary: Supports postdoctoral research on synthesis and device applications of topological materials at the Naval Research Laboratory using advanced fabrication and characterization facilities.
Key Information: Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents; requires Ph.D. earned within 5 years; relocation and health insurance benefits included.
Description
This fellowship opportunity focuses on the synthesis and device applications of topological materials, including topological insulators (TIs), Dirac semimetals, and Weyl semimetals. These quantum materials exhibit unique properties protected by symmetry and topology, such as robust, near dissipationless carrier transport and spin-momentum locking in surface states. The research aims to synthesize these materials and their heterostructures with magnetic materials via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and to explore control and manipulation of spin and charge transport through electrical and optical methods.
Key research goals include developing device applications like nonvolatile magnetic topological memory, which leverages current-generated spins in TIs and Weyl semimetals to switch ferromagnet magnetization via spin orbit torque. Investigations will cover spin transport at heterointerfaces and spin dynamics to optimize device efficiency. The work is relevant to next-generation low-power electronics, spintronics, information processing, and in-logic memory technologies.
The Naval Research Laboratory provides extensive state-of-the-art facilities, including a cluster system integrating MBE with e-beam sources, sputtering, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to be added in 2024. Additional capabilities include electrical transport measurements, magneto-optical and structural/magnetic characterization, and a class 100 cleanroom for nanofabrication.
