Post-Doctoral position : european project RIANA

Synchrotron SOLEIL is the French national synchrotron facility created by CNRS/CEA and located in the heart of the Paris-Saclay cluster, some twenty kilometers from Paris. It represents a large research instractructure, offering a unique panorama of experiments with 29 beamlines and covering a very wide range of wavelengths: from infrared to hard X-rays, including ultraviolet. Its characteristics (intensity, focus, stability, etc.) make it possible to observe matter at all scales, down to the atom, for experiments in both fundamental and applied research or of industrial interest. SOLEIL covers a wide range of disciplines, including physics, biology, chemistry, materials science, the environment, earth sciences and cultural heritage. In particular, it is one of the world leaders in nanoscience and nanotechnology for fundamental research and applications. Thanks to its exceptional characteristics, SOLEIL offers users a considerable advance in the quality of measurement and analysis. 

SOLEIL is a major partner in a new europeean project called “RIANA” (standing for “Research Infrastructure Access in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology”), which has officially been launched on 01 March 2024 to offer researches access to Europe’s leading facilities in nanoscience and nanotechnology that are at the heart of the development of new materials for prosperity and sustainability. The RIANA project provides the user community with a unique platform of 69 infrastructures from 22 European countries, including synchrotron, electron microscopy, laser, ion beam, neutron, clean room, and soft matter research infrastructures as well as high performance computing. Beyond standard user access to single facilities, RIANA offers a single-point access and a particularly strong user support by a network of junior scientists. RIANA will engage with academic and industrial users via a rolling call system and promote experiments that combine different facilities and techniques. This combination of scientific tools will enable new approaches and an expansion of the user community, paving the way for accelerated innovation based on nanomaterials.

In the framework of the RIANA project, SOLEIL opens 24 months postdoctoral position at TEMPO beamline. TEMPO is a soft x-rays (50 eV – 1500 eV) beamline adapted to the photoemission studies of the electronic properties of different materials. It is characterized by two brunches, one for UHV photoemission spectroscopy (XPS,ARPES) and the other for near-ambient pressure photoemission spectroscopy (NAP-XPS).

I. MISSION

The candidate will work at TEMPO beamline of SOLEIL synchrotron using photoemission spectroscopy (XPS and ARPES), which is one of the most powerful and suitable techniques to study the properties of matter and in particular materials at the nanoscale under operando conditions. His/her research project will focus on the novel physical properties of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials such as Cu-Te films deposited on semiconductor substrates (Si, Ge) at different thicknesses. The growth of CuTe on semiconductor substrates, which has never been reported before, will be achieved in situ by co-evaporation of Cu and Te with controllable deposition rates. The synthesis and characterization of such a system represents an exciting fundamental and technological challenge. This will enable the electronic structure of the substrate to be decoupled from that of the deposited films, giving access to their intrinsic properties and enabling their future large-scale integration in nanotechnology applications. In addition to photoemission studies, surface diffraction experiments and Raman measurements are also planned.

He/She will have also the following tasks:

• Be familiar with all SOLEIL beamlines selected to host academic and industrial users in the framework of the RIANA project.
• Will provide support in carrying out the experiments, data acquisition and analysis, as well as the interpretation of the results.
• Will coordinate scientific exchanges between the users and the corresponding members of SOLEIL, and eventually develops fruitful collaborations within RIANA project.

II. Experience required

The candidate must hold a PhD in Physics, material science, Physical chemistry or similar research fields.

A research experience in the field of X-ray and/or electron spectroscopy is strongly recommended.

Moreover, the following expertise will be considered with particular attention:

• Research experience in photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), as well as absorption spectroscopy (XAS).
• A solid background in solid state physics.
• Knowledge in ultrahigh vacuum.
• Teamwork skills.
• Knowledge of French is not mandatory, but a fluent level of spoken and written English is required.

III. General condition

This offer corresponds to a 24-months postdoc contract.

The deadline for the applications is fixed to June 30^th 2024.

All applications must include:

• Curriculum vitae
• List of publications
• Motivation letter
• Contact details for two referees.

For more information, please contact Dr. Azzedine Bendounan:
azzedine.bendounan@synchrotron-soleil.fr