This vacancy is now closed
Job Title Postdoctoral Research Associate, Beamline I09
Job Reference DIA0840/TH
Post Type
Division Science
Salary information Circa £33k
Application deadline 09/06/2013


Job Description

Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. Located at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, we enable world-leading research across a wide range of scientific disciplines and industrial applications.

Beamline I09 is an undulator beamline that provides both soft (150 eV – 2.1 keV) and hard (2.1 – 18 keV) x-rays for investigating the atomic and electronic structures of a wide range of surfaces and interfaces using photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), x-ray standing waves (XSW) and photoelectron diffraction (PhD).

This position will focus on the research that utilizes hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) for studying the electronic properties, chemical compositions and atomic structures of metal oxide thin films, including cuprate/manganite heterostructures, proton conducting fuel cell superlattices, and transparent conducting oxide thin films. The samples will be prepared mostly by our collaborators using pulsed-laser deposition or molecular beam expitaxy in their institutes. The HAXPES experiments will be performed in a newly constructed UHV surface science end-station on the beamline, where samples can be uniquely characterized with both soft and hard x-rays. Other methods such as NEXAFS, XSW and soft x-ray angle-resolved photoemission (SX-ARPES) can be also applied for complementary information. In addition to the research project, the PDRA will be involved in commissioning the end-station (e.g., testing the electron analyzer or other detectors) and in some of the external user experiments that will also use the same end-station.

PDRA will be responsible for the in-house research project on HAXPES studies of metal oxide thin films using the surface science end-station in EH2 on Beamline I09.
Working with the I09 beamline team in the following areas:

  • Day-to-day responsibility for the in-house research programme on metal oxide thin films including the analysis and publication of the results;
  • testing and commissioning of the surface science end-station (e.g., sample heating, cooling, electron analyzer and other detectors);
  • support of relevant research projects of the users, who will come from a diverse scientific background;
  • presentation of the in-house research, beamline developments and scientific papers at meetings and conferences;
  • assist with the general commissioning of beamline hardware and the development of data acquisition, visualisation and analysis software;
  • assist the beamline staff in maintaining and running the beamline peripheral laboratories.

Qualification & Experience - Essential

  • Appropriate first degree;
  • PhD;
  • Experience or knowledge of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy;
  • Experience of research on electronic properties of metal oxides;
  • Ability and initiative to get to the heart of the problem and take it effectively through to completion;
  • Good interpersonal, communication and presentational skills;
  • Good organisational and planning skills;
  • Ability to interact effectively with staff at all levels;
  • Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team;
  • Self motivation.

Qualification & Experience - Desirable

  • Experience or knowledge of other x-ray methods such as near edge x-ray absorption fine structure, angle-resolved photoemission and x-ray standing waves;
  • Experience of ultrahigh vacuum techniques;
  • Experience or knowledge of surface science or thin film growth techniques;
  • Experience of synchrotrons / x-ray beamlines;
  • Experience with Windows/Linux/Unix;
  • Experience of programming for data acquisition or data analysis.

Further Information

  • Must be available to travel occasionally within the UK and abroad, including overnight absences.

Applying for employment

For further details on applying for employment at Diamond, please visit our 'Application Form' page.

Appointments will be made depending on the skills and experience of the candidate. Electronic Diamond application forms in MS-Word are preferred. These should be emailed to recruitment@diamond.ac.uk



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