PhD position on rapidly pulsed radio-frequency plasmas for gas conversion

Are you interested in plasma physics? Do you want to help demonstrate the usefulness of radio-frequency driven plasmas for industrial processes? We are looking for a motivated PhD student to investigate rapidly pulsed radio-frequency plasmas used for gas conversion.

Background
Plasma processing systems are often powered by 13.56 MHz radiofrequency (RF) waveforms. However, advances have been held back by i) lack of precise control of the RF signal and ii) the low energy efficiency of RF generators, which prevents the utilization of RF-driven plasmas in energy sensitive applications like CO2 conversion or ammonia synthesis.

However, recent advances in power electronics have led to large improvements in the power efficiency of RF generators and the possibility to operate without impedance matching, allowing them to maintain this high efficiency even under rapidly changing load conditions, such as during pulsed operation. This opens up new operating regimes that have previously been inaccessible and will be explored in this project.

Your project
Within this PhD project, you will investigate an RF-driven plasma using an advanced power generator to enable rapid pulsing of the discharge, fast active control and high efficiency. You will explore the influence of the electric parameters on the plasma chemistry using two reference systems: 1) atomic oxygen production in an O2 plasma and 2) NOx production in a N2-O2 plasma.

For this, you will set up a dedicated experiment and use state-of-the-art equipment and measurement methods including Langmuir probes and optical diagnostics such as absorption spectroscopy to answer research questions like:

• What is the influence of the electrical parameters (pulse frequency, pulse length, coupling, etc.) on the production of relevant chemical species?
• Does pulsing enable cold plasma operation at elevated pressures?
• Can we accelerate the transition from the capacitive coupling mode to the inductive mode in ICP (inductively coupled plasma) discharges?

You will join the plasma & materials processing group (PMP) in the Applied Physics and Science Education department of TU/e. Within PMP, you will work as part of an international team of passionate, dedicated people working on topics like new materials for the semiconductor industry and for photovoltaics; on plasma chemistry and catalysis; as well as on advanced plasma and surface diagnostics. The group offers well-equipped labs, excellent technical support and an enjoyable and sociable working environment.

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four-year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. € 3,059 - max. € 3,881).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.