A Diamond–Oxford Partner PhD Studentship
The Scientific Premise
The Oxford Physics Microstructure Detector Group (OPMD) and the Diamond Light Source Detector Group are offering a joint-funded 3.5-year DPhil graduate studentship to work on applications of the new Timepix4 detector and the development of compatible fast timing sensors.
The Diamond Detector Group is responsible for the construction, installation, commissioning and operation of the detector systems for the beamlines at Diamond. To provide the best detectors, the group is committed to several detector evaluation and development projects and is also engaged in international collaborations. Diamond and OPMD, as members of the Medipix Collaboration, are actively working on the characterisation of the new Timepix4 detector. This collaboration led by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has developed a series of silicon pixel detectors that allow the advances made for particle physics detector technology to be applied to other areas of science that do not have the depth of collaborative instrumentation research to be able to develop these devices independently. A major element of this collaboration is research into new fast timing low gain avalanche diode (LGAD) sensors that can be coupled to the Timepix4 and fully exploit its timing capabilities. These Timepix4-bonded LGAD sensors will provide superb time-resolved detection capability for the Coherent Soft X-Ray Imaging and Diffraction flagship beamline being constructed for Diamond-II, a mammoth upgrade programme that will include a new generation of lightsources.
The focus of the project will initially be characterising the performance of the detector and then applying the detector to a number of soft X-ray beamlines at Diamond. The time will be evenly split between the OPMD silicon development laboratories and the Diamond Detector Group.
The twofold potential of these new direct detection sensors will be explored: firstly, the ability to fully exploit the circa-100-ps timing capability of the Timepix4+LGAD to perform highly time-resolved experiments; secondly, the ability of an LGAD sensor to couple to a hybrid such as the Timepix4 to image X-rays at energies as low as 250 eV by making use of the sensor's built-in amplification. These advances would significantly enhance the capability of the already highly capable Timepix4 platform and create a large overlap with existing infrastructure developments.
Techniques
The student will make use of lab-based X-ray tube systems at both Oxford and Diamond as well as Diamond beamlines to perform characterisation of the detectors and to develop new calibration techniques that will be incorporated into the detector control software. Fast timing measurements will be performed using a picosecond pulsed laser available at Oxford.
Moreover, the student will perform simulations using the Synopsys TCAD package, which will enable them to determine the exact operation of the LGAD sensors in this application.
Statistical analysis of the results, image processing and an element of experimental hardware control programming will further be required.
Training
The student will receive on-the-job training in many aspects of the detector systems, techniques and software packages that will be used as part of the project.
In addition to this, the Oxford Particle Physics Sub-Department deliver a series of advanced DPhil lectures in the first two terms aimed at experimental particle physics techniques, statistics and general detector systems, which are assessed with problem sheets. In the third term of the first year, the OPMD group coordinates a UK-wide series of online lectures on silicon sensor instrumentation, silicon sensor theory, and related experimental and engineering techniques for which attendance is mandatory. The student will also take part in regular DPhil tutorials in their first two terms to gain structured background knowledge in the field of silicon detectors.
Time Division
You will spend approximately 50% of your time at the University of Oxford and 50% at Diamond Light Source Ltd, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
Attributes of Suitable Applicants
(1) At least an upper second-class undergraduate degree in physics or a related subject.
(2) A demonstrable passion for physics instrumentation and a track record of academic excellence.
(3) This project requires working with several different teams of scientists at Diamond Light Source and the University of Oxford; therefore, the ability to work collaboratively and thrive in a multidisciplined scientific environment are a must.
This project is jointly funded for three and a half years by the University of Oxford and Diamond Light Source Ltd. Successful students will receive a stipend of no less than the standard UKRI stipend rate, currently set at £18,622 for the academic year 2023 to 2024 (the rates for subsequent academic years have not been published), plus a £2,000 per annum stipend top-up.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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