Funded PhD and Postdoctoral positions in Nanotribology and nanomanipulation

Laboratory of Physics

Helsinki University of Technology

Postdoctoral and PhD positions are available in the Surfaces and Interfaces at the Nanoscale (SIN) Group (http://www.fyslab.hut.fi/sin) as part of the ESF Friction and Adhesion in Nanomechanical systems programme
(http://www.esf.org/activities/eurocores/programmes/fanas.html). The SIN group is part of the Centre of Excellence in Computational Nanoscience (http://www.fyslab.hut.fi/comp) within the Laboratory of Physics, Helsinki University of Technology.

Interfacial friction is one of the oldest problems in physics and chemistry, and certainly one of the most important from a practical point of view. Everyday operations on a broad range of scales, from nanometer and up, depend upon
the smooth and satisfactory functioning of countless tribological systems. Friction is intimately related to both adhesion and wear, and all three require an understanding of highly non-equilibrium processes occurring at the
molecular level to determine what happens at the macroscopic level. We are initiating two new directions in nanotribological studies. Firstly, we will study the nanomanipulation of metallic clusters on thin insulating films, and investigate how we can control this by changing the size and charge of the cluster, and by patterning the surface. Secondly, we will study the frictional contact between nanoprobes and insulating surfaces, particularly focusing on alkali halide films and organic overlayers, and energy dissipation on metal oxide surfaces. In both cases, the research will require state-of-the-art quantum mechanical methods to study electronic properties, supported by atomistic simulations for large-scale systems. Both projects involve international collaborations with leading theoretical and experimental groups in Europe, and a significant amount of travel to collaborating groups will be expected.