Ph.D Project: Studying Magnetic Recording Media using Neutrons and Synchrotron Radiation

We are currently working in a close collaboration with Hitachi Research Laboratories, San Hose, CA to look at the magnetic structure of magnetic recording media at the sub-10 nm length scale. Magnetic recording media, used in magnetic disk drives, are of extreme commercial and technological importance and lie at the centre of many common devices including computers, video recorders and ipods. The smallest functional magnetic element in these materials, the magnetic grain, is typically about 10 nm in diameter, yet there are very few techniques that can probe the magnetic structure at these length scales. Among these are neutron and synchrotron radiation techniques.

The group at St Andrews has a long reputation of carrying out high quality research using some of the world's best facilities for condensed matter research. This includes the use of international facilities for the generation of neutrons and muons such as the Institut Laue Langevin in Grenoble, France, or the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland. This project with Hitachi is supported by an EPSRC grant of £420K over the next three years which includes a PhD project studentship which will be available from early 2007. The student will work closely with an experienced post-doctoral researcher employed on the same grant.

We aim to bring the scientific rigour and attention to detail that we use in our fundamental research to this more applied project. This has already brought us to the forefront of worldwide research in this area and there is great opportunity for the further exploitation of the approaches we have developed. We are currently working on the very latest research materials from Hitachi and thus have the possibility of making valuable contributions to future materials development that could impact directly on technology.

The PhD position offers a great opportunity for a highly motivated student to receive outstanding training in advanced techniques at some of the world’s leading central facilities in France, Switzlerland, Germany and the UK. There also exists the possibility to spend periods at the Hitachi research centre in San Jose. If you wish to apply for this position please click here.

Should you have any questions regarding this vacancy please contact Prof. Stephen Lee:

sl10 @ st-and.ac.uk

Ph.D. Project: Investigating the interplay of magnetism and superconductivity in thin film devices using advanced neutron, muon and synchrotron techniques

Nanomagnetic devices are present in many high technology systems, a classical example being hard disk drives, where they find use in both the recording media and the magnetoresistive read heads. There is currently an enormous effort in the area of ‘spintronics’, where idealized thin film structures are fabricated to create spin-polarised currents that could find application in a new generation of electronic devices. These devices, such as ‘spin valves’, typically combine juxtaposed layers of magnetic metals and normal metals each of typical thickness a few 10’s of nanometers.

In this project we extend the notion of spintronic devices to include magnetic and superconducting elements. Superconductivity and magnetism are frequently mutually exclusive and in instances where they do coexist in close proximity this usually implies some exotic ground state for the system. In superconducting spintronic devices one could envisage the magnetic switch controlling the superconducting wavefunction (amplitude and possibly phase) that could be used to exploit quantum properties in future electronics and computing.

We have also recently demonstrated that the superconducting state can also influence the magnetic state of the system. We are using traditional neutron techniques combined with a completely novel and unique technique, the low energy muon (LEM) facility at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland, to study the delicate interplay of magnetism and superconductivity in superconducting spin-valve and related systems. We have already been able to demonstrate the coexistence of superconductivity and a spin density wave using this approach, which is attracting attention from theorists working in this area.

The PhD position offers a great opportunity for a highly motivated student to receive outstanding training in advanced techniques at some of the world’s leading central facilities in France, Switzlerland, Germany and the UK. The work is carried out in collaboration with the world renowned group in Leiden headed by Professor Jan Aarts. The work is currently supported under an EU facilities user programme at PSI and via the EPSRC direct access programme at the Institut Laue Langevin in Grenoble, France and at ISIS, UK. Further support is soon to be sought from the EPSRC to enlarge the scope of the programme. If you wish to apply for this position please click here.

Should you have any questions regarding this vacancy please contact Prof. Stephen Lee:

sl10 @ st-and.ac.uk