PhD student in fundamental research on ultra-high performance resonant cavities in superconducting radiofrequency (M/F)
PhD @French National Centre for Scientific Research posted 21 hours agoJob Description
General information
Job title: PhD student in fundamental research on ultra-high performance resonant cavities in superconducting radiofrequency (M/F)
Reference: UMR9012-MARJOU-034
Number of positions: 1
Work location: ORSAY
Publication date: Friday, June 6, 2025
Contract type: Fixed-term contract PhD student
Contract duration: 36 months
Thesis start date: October 1, 2025
Workload: Full
Remuneration: The remuneration is a minimum of €2,200.00 per month
Section(s) CN: 01 – Interactions, particles, nuclei from the laboratory to the cosmos
Description of the thesis subject
Radiofrequency superconducting cavities are central to future post-LHC accelerator projects. For high-current machines for high-luminosity collisions, namely FCCee at CERN and PERLE at IJCLab, an extremely high quality (Q) factor is crucial to minimize cryogenic power dissipation and thus save liquid helium and electricity consumption. IJCLab is leading the development of state-of-the-art high-Q cavities within the framework of the International Collaboration for Sustainable Accelerators of the Future (iSAS) projects.
In 2024, it was demonstrated that an IJCLab-owned vacuum furnace could perform advanced thermal treatment of a prototype cavity, called mid-T baking. The results obtained replicate those of other foreign laboratories (FNAL, JLAB, KEK, iHEP, DESY). IJCLab is currently modifying its cavity test bench to be able to measure new cavities during fabrication. For theoretical work, IJCLab has established a collaboration with ANL, JLAB, INFN, and KEK to develop nonlinear, non-equilibrium models to explain the behavior of high-Q cavities under intense RF fields. This is a persistent fundamental problem in superconductivity and a major challenge in quantum statistical physics.
The successful candidate will work on measurements and data analysis of prototype high-Q cavities for FCC within IJCLab, as well as general cavities. The task includes preparation of cavity tests, cryogenic operations, RF measurements, and data analysis. Using this data, he or she will participate in the theoretical modeling of high-Q cavities. In particular, the frequency dependence of the so-called anti-Q slope will be compared with newly proposed theories. In addition, the student will systematically compare experimental data from different laboratories. He will be able to participate occasionally in experiments in other laboratories, such as CERN, KEK, JLAB, INFN, FNAL, etc., and to give talks at international workshops (see biannual TTC) and conferences (see SRF2027 in Padua). Some of the successfully tested cavities will be installed in the iSAS cryomodule of the new Energy Recovery Linear Accelerator (ERL) PERLE within IJCLab. Thus, this project offers a wide range of experiences to this student: fundamental understanding of superconductivity, development of state-of-the-art cavities, international collaborations and contributions to a serious accelerator project in France.
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Work context
The Irène Joliot-Curie Physics Laboratory of 2 Infinitives (IJCLab) is a joint research unit under the supervision of the CNRS (IN2P3), the University of Paris-Saclay, and the University of Paris. The laboratory is located on the campus of the University of Paris-Saclay in Orsay. The campus is located 20 km south of Paris and easily accessible by RER in 35 minutes.
IJCLab was created in 2020 from the merger of five units (CSNSM, IMNC, IPN, LAL, LPT). The staff is made up of nearly 560 permanent staff (340 engineers, technicians, and administrators, and 220 researchers and teacher-researchers) and approximately 200 non-permanent staff, including 120 doctoral students. The laboratory’s research themes are nuclear physics, high-energy physics, theoretical physics, astroparticles, astrophysics and cosmology, particle accelerators, energy and environment, and health. IJCLab has very significant technical capabilities (approximately 280 TIs) in all the major fields required to design, develop/implement the experimental devices necessary for its scientific activity, as well as the design, development, and use of instruments.
The doctoral student will work in the laboratory’s accelerator group, which is involved in the development of several superconducting accelerator cavity projects, such as Spiral2, ESS, MYRRHA, PIPII, and more recently PERLE, FCC, and ILC.
The group includes approximately 90 physicists and engineers (permanent researchers, postdocs, and doctoral students).
This project is an international collaboration with the University of Chicago and national laboratories in the Chicago area. The collaboration extends more globally, including CEA, CERN, DESY, INFN, KEK, IHEP, FNAL, JLAB, etc., in order to carry out a systematic analysis of the data collected in each laboratory and of the models developed and implemented by external collaborators.
The position is located in a sector covered by the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival be authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.
Constraints and risks
Position constraints and specificities, possible travel
The successful candidate must be enrolled in a doctoral program at the PHENICS doctoral school. A trip to the University of Chicago (FNAL + ANL) in the United States, to CERN in Switzerland and to KEK in Japan is expected. Depending on the progress of the research, travel to other institutions and participation in their experiments may be considered.
