PhD in Physics: MBE growth and experimental studies of Half Metallic Anti-Ferromagnetic thin films

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NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical-scientific profile and a focus in professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim.

At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

   

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About the position

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD fellow with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia. 

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department, Kathrine Røe Redalen. You will be supervised by associate Professor Christoph Brüne and Professor Morten Kildemo.

The PhD position will be allocated in the QuSpin center of excellence/Quantum Condensed Matter section at the Department of Physics, NTNU. We are one of the leading research environments in Norway in Spintronics and Quantum Materials and connected phenomena. 

In this PhD project, you will carry out experimental research on novel advanced materials with strong potential for spintronic applications. Spintronics enables new routes toward energy efficient electronic devices with reduced heat dissipation, continued miniaturization beyond silicon based technology, and operation at much higher frequencies. The work will involve the synthesis, characterization, and analysis of a new material system combining the concepts of antiferromagnetism and spin polarization electron bands. Our goal is to experimentally realize such a material and understand and control its functional properties. In this way, your research will contribute to the development of materials platforms for the next generation of electronic and data storage technologies. To achieve this goal, you will use state-of-the-art experimental techniques in our molecular beam epitaxy and ellipsometry labs.

About the project

In this PhD project you will be investigating the growth and characterization of a new type of magnetic material: an antiferromagnetic half-metal. Such materials combine the advantages of half metals – spin polarized electron bands and electron transport - with those of antiferromagnetic materials: high speed of operation, no stray fields, low sensitivity to external magnetic fields, and high Neel temperatures. This makes antiferromagnetic half-metals an ideal material class for potential spintronics applications.

In this project, we will investigate how such a material can be synthesized in thin film form and how we can measure and characterize the properties of these thin films. The growth of the materials will be done via molecular beam epitaxy, where we can control crystal properties down to single atomic layers. Growth control and investigation of the thin films will mainly focus on using optical characterization via NIR-UV ex-situ ellipsometry, FTIR-ellipsometry and Raman measurements which are supported by standard thin film structural characterizations via e.g. X-ray, SEM and AFM measurements. In addition to these main tasks, we are part of a large group of collaborating scientific groups, giving us access to, for example, low temperature magneto transport measurements and point contact spectroscopy measurements, THz-Mueller Matrix Ellipsometry and advanced structural characterization (e.g. TEM, polarized neutron diffraction) as well as theoretical support. This means that an important part of your project will also be collaborating with our partners and thereby getting insight into a wide variety of physical measurement methods and the theoretical descriptions of our material systems.

Duties of the position

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate
• Carry out research of good quality within the framework described above
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination
• Participate in the research group NanoPhotonics and Polarimetry and the Molecular Beam Epitaxy group 
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions
• Potentially teaching duties in agreement with the Department 
• Other career-promoting work 

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a relevant Master's degree in physics, physical electronics or materials science or equivalent. Your course of study must correspond to a five-year Norwegian course, where 120 credits have been obtained at master's level. Master students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position and no later than November 1st 2026.
• You have an educational background in one or more of the following subjects:
                 - solid-state physics and magnetism 
                 - optics and electromagnetism 
                 - nanofabrication and thin films
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the Faculty's of Natural Sciences doctoral program.

 

PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions and Regulations for the degrees philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) and philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) in artistic development work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

• Background in solid state physics (including magnetism), classical electromagnetism and optics/optical physics. 
• Competence in experimental research, data analysis, and/or clean room device fabrication is an advantage.
• High level Norwegian language qualifications and motivation to contribute as teaching assistant in our undergrade education is an advantage.
• Strong interest in both synthesis/manufacturing of materials and working with optical methods to characterize thin films. 
• You enjoy working with and maintaining experimental setups (e.g. MBE machines and/or ellipsometry setups).
• You have solid knowledge in thin film growth or material synthesis and characterization, therein optical characterization of thin films.

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to:

• Work in a team and establish positive relationships with other students and staff 
• Work in a structured way, set goals and make plans to achieve them, together with the supervisors
• Work independently
• Present and discuss your research with other professionals
• Analyze data, assess different perspectives and draw well-founded conclusions 
• Be flexible and open to adjusting the plan for the project as needed
• Participate in co-supervision of master students
• Complete the doctoral education in accordance to the PhD program at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, NTNU
• Write academic publications and participate in popular science dissemination

In addition, you should be highly motivated, competent in the field of research, and ambitious in terms of reaching scientific goals.

We offer

• An exciting job with an important mission in society
• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment
• Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues
• Working capital that can be used to implement the project
• Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU
• Favorable terms as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK) 
• Free Norwegian language training at a basic level (A2)

As a PhD Candidate at NTNU, you will have access to employee benefits.

Diversity

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population's collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse, and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. 

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. 

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability, and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality.

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK 550 800,- per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

The employment period is 3 years, with potential for extension for teaching duties / career promotion work. 

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in Physics within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme throughout the period of employment.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them.

For the necessary professional and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

About the application

The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in Norwegian/a Scandinavian language or English.

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. If you are invited to an interview, you must bring certified copies of certificates and diplomas upon request. 

The application must include: 

• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degrees
• CV 
• Copy of Master's thesis. If you have recently submitted or are in the process of submitting your Master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. 
• Short letter of motivation (max 400 words/1 page)
• Possibly publications etc. other relevant research work
• Possibly certificates
• Names and contact information of two relevant referees

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both Bachelor's and Master's education, in addition to other higher education. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well. 

Joint work will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint work, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

 When assessing the best qualified, we emphasize necessary qualifications such as education, experience and personal suitability. Motivation for the position, ambitions, and potential for research will also count when assessing the candidates.
 
NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU's social mission).

General information

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted.

If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply. 

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Christoph Brüne (associate professor), email christoph.brune@ntnu.no or Morten Kildemo (Professor), email Morten.Kildemo@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Anja Isaksen (HR consultant), e-mail: anja.t.isaksen@ntnu.no. 

Søknadsfrist: 15.05.2026

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For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage. 
 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the tech capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.