PhD Candidate – development of mechanical nano-oscillators for hybrid quantum systems

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career within device science and industry. In this project where you will work in a joint group situated at Department of physics and QuSpin as well as the Department of electric systems exploring physics and developing a device platform within NTNU Nanolab. You will be instrumental to establish cutting edge fabrications techniques to enable progress at the intersection between photonics, phononics and magnonics.

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

The field of nano-mechanical oscillators and nanomagnetic systems has matured greatly over the last decade. The development of opto-mechanical technologies and the demand for high-quality oscillators in quantum technology have driven this progress. Nanomechanical engineering of so-called phononic crystals has allowed to manipulate the coupling between the mechanical resonator and its surrounding to a degree that can address individual acoustic vibrations with sufficient precision to achieve quantum ground state cooling of a nanomechanical oscillator.

With this project we want to combine competences developed in this area with advanced materials development and modeling to open up a new path based on coupling magnetodynamic oscillators with nano-mechanical oscillators. This constitutes the basic steps towards exploring nano-mechanically driven magnonics in a dissipation engineered environment. This is made possible through combining state of the art: modern processing capabilities within nano fabrication of mechanical oscillators competence in suitable materials design of low damped magnetic films well suited for co-integration with the mechanical oscillator modeling capabilities of the mechanical, atomistic and magnonic dependencies of the excitation properties of the system.

Through these advents we can construct degenerate magnetic, mechanical, and electronic hybrid quantum resonators, decoupled through phononic structures from the bulk, where we can control and measure the mechanical and magnetodynamic oscillating states. This engineering of the acoustic/phononic mode spectrum of the nanomechanical resonator facilitates the exploration of both the phonon-magnon coupling and their dissipation at different points of the Brillouin zone of the magnon.

Simultaneous control of these boson systems opens new possibilities to study the coupling of magnons, phonons, and microwave photons and opens up new possibilities in the realm of hybrid quantum systems. In a first step this opens a route to systematically pump the system, with an immediate goal to achieve a system of mechanically coupled and pumped magnon Bose-Einstein condensate. Ultimately, we intend to explore the quantum-coherent coupling of degenerate photons, phonons, and magnons in a triply- resonant and dissipation-engineered hybrid quantum system.

The objective of this project is to develop a new nanofabrication process for the preparation of a magnonic hybrid quantum system with an engineered phononic dissipation environment in the NTNU Nanolab cleanroom. The position is fully funded for four years of which 1 year constitutes compulsory work for NanoLab. The compulsory year will be distributed over the four years. The project is carried out jointly between the Department for Physics and the Department for Electronic Engineering at NTNU. The supervisor for this position is Professor Erik Wahlström. The position is co-supervised by Associate Professor Johann Riemensberger.

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate.
• Design, processing and simulation of micro/nano-resonators coupled to magnetodynamic resonators.
• Collaborate with an international network of scientific partners.
• Report research findings in international conferences and scientific articles.
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination.
• Participate in the research groups (the quantum magnonics group of QuSpin and the Nonlinear Integrated Photonics group at IES).
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions.
• Perform 1 year of support within NTNU Nanolab, building up a skillset in support and nanofabrication.

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

• You must be strongly motivated for the research task.
• You must have an academically relevant background within solid state physics / device physics, nanotechnology or device electronics.
• You must have a Master’s degree in physics, nanotechnology, electronics 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’s students can apply, but the master’s degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position and no later than 01.08.25.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master’s degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be considered if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the doctoral programme in Physics or in Electronics and Telecommunications.
• Documented good written and oral English.

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 Regulations for the Universities and Colleges Act (university and colleges regulations) 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.

• Experience with numerical simulations for nanoelectronic or nanomechanical devices with COMSOL Multiphysics or similar.
• Experience with standard and advanced nanofabrication and thin film deposition processes.
• Experience with nanoelectro-magnetic device characterization (ESA, VNA, etc.)

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

• Show curiosity and a strong motivation for the subject.
• Work constructively under pressure or in the face of adversity.
• Work independently.
• Work in a structured way, set goals and make plans to achieve them.

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

• An exciting job within an emerging field of device physics.
• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment.
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues.

You will be employed as a PhD Candidate at NTNU and will have access to employee benefits and discounts.

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.

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK  536 200 per annum. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary.

The employment period is 3 years for the doctoral work in addition to 12 months/year of work as support in NTNU Nanolab cleanroom facilities.

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in Physics or in Electronics and Telecommunications 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 academic 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 bein conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

The application should include short motivation letter explaining your motivation for the position and how you think you and your experience make you a good candidate for the position.

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 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 your Master’s thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed Master’s degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Short letter of motivation (400 words/1 page)
• Possibly publications etc. other relevant research work
• Possibly certificates
• Names and contact information of three 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 works 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).

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 Professor Erik Wahlström erik.wahlstrom@ntnu.no.

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Magnus Gautvik , e-mail: magnus.gautvik@ntnu.no.

Application deadline: 08.06.2025