ILTPC Newsletter 11
26 February 2021
Download the Newsletter as a PDF file
Table of Contents
- Call for contributions
- Images
- Invited LTP perspectives
- Leaders of the LTP Community
- General interest announcements
- Meetings and online seminars
- Community initiatives and special issues
- Research highlights and breakthroughs
- New resources
- Career opportunities
- Collaborative opportunities
Call for Contributions
Please submit content for the next issue of the Newsletter. Please send your contributions to iltpc-central@umich.edu by March 27, 2021. Please send contributions as MS-Word files if possible – and avoid sending contributions as PDF files.
In particular, please send Research Highlights and Breakthroughs using this template. The highlight consists of an image and up to 200 words of text. The topic can be anything you want - a recently published work, a new unpublished result, a proposed new area of research, company successes, anything LTP-related. Please see the Research highlights and breakthroughs for examples.
Images to Excite and Inspire!
Thank you for submitting your images, some of which are shown here. Those images already submitted will appear in later Newsletters. Please do send your images (with a short description or source) to iltpc-central@umich.edu. The recommended image format is JPG or PNG; the minimum file width is 800 px.
(Click the image to enlarge.)
Prof. Stephan Reuter, Plasma Physics and Spectroscopy Lab, Polytechnique Montréal (stephan.reuter@polymtl.ca) and Prof. Michael R. Wertheimer, Plasma Physics and Spectroscopy Lab, Polytechnique Montréal (michel.wertheimer@polymtl.ca).
Yupan Bao (yupan.bao@forbrf.lth.se) and Dr. Andreas Ehn (andreas.ehn@forbrf.lth.se), Lund University, Sweden. Source: Bao et al., “Single-shot 3D imaging of hydroxyl radicals in the vicinity of a gliding arc discharge”, Plasma Sources Science and Technology (2021).
Invited LTP Perspectives: Policy, Opportunities, Challenges
Taking Research from a Paper to a Product
As researchers, we have many goals, which are sometimes in concert and sometimes in conflict. These may include finding or remaining in employment, educating younger researchers, writing and presenting papers, and developing useful processes or products. As low-temperature plasma researchers, almost all of our work will have the latter as one of its stated goals. And the world is indeed filled with products that use or rely on plasma processes – semiconductor etching, arc welding, plasma spraying, and corona surface treatment, to name just a few. But in reality, the vast majority of our efforts (at least for those who work in academic and government research institutions) are never commercialized.
How can researchers increase the likelihood that their research leads to a commercial product or process instead of the final ‘product’ being a scientific paper? Here are a few suggestions.
- Spend time to understand the needs of potential users. Don’t directly ask them to validate your proposal; instead, ask open-ended questions – for example, what are your problems and needs in the general area addressed by the proposal? For instance, in planning a plasma seed treatment project, we learnt that cotton seed is more expensive and has lower germination rates than most other seed. We also learnt that all cotton seed planted in Australia is distributed to farmers every year, whereas farmers generally save their own wheat seed. We concluded that cotton seed was a more sensible target for plasma treatment.
- Formulate a ‘path to impact’ for every project. If your research is successful, how will it achieve the economic, environmental or social benefits promised in your grant proposal? Who will you work with on further development, and how will it be funded? Can the process be scaled up, and will it be economically viable?
- Be prepared to make a sustained effort. Writing a scientific paper is much quicker and easier than establishing an industrial process. The adage that development needs ten times as much effort as research, and commercialization needs ten times as much again, is a reasonable guide.
The scientific reward system encourages a focus on novel areas, for which grants and publications in high-impact-factor journals are more likely. It discourages the longer-term R&D required to progress from a laboratory experiment described in a scientific paper to a demonstration system likely to attract investment. Not every academic will wish to spend time on the latter for understandable reasons. Nevertheless, it is worth considering how you can increase the likelihood that your results can make the transition from a paper to a product.
Dr. Anthony B. Murphy Chief Research Scientist CSIRO Manufacturing Lindfield NSW 2070, Australia tony.murphy@csiro.au
Leaders of the LTP Community: Career Profiles
Professor Bill Graham, Queen’s University Belfast
In our current circumstances one of the main things researchers, in particular early career researchers, are missing out on are physical conference environments. These are important in getting to know the ‘makers of the community’ – and Bill is certainly one of them.
Many will know Bill from previous conferences and/or his former role as Editor in Chief of the IOPP journal Plasma Sources Science and Technology.
He leaves a footprint on all of the committees he has chaired and been a member of. One aspect he has always been dedicated to is his support and encouragements of the earlier career generation, not only in conference settings. His generosity, in any terms, is far-reaching. Bill has played a major role over the years shaping our community.
Bill’s energy and enthusiasm are truly encouraging. He always has a keen interest in exploring new cultural aspects in international conference settings. Likewise, he also organised the first Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC 2004) in Europe, choosing a remote ancient Castle in Ireland as the conference venue, as well as the International Conference on Phenomena in Ionized Gases (ICPIG, Belfast, 2011).
Bill has always been at the frontiers of our science with clear foresight. One example where he was well ahead of his time are his famous ‘physics of beer’ talks – a decade before there was any talk of plasmas in liquids. Unsurprisingly, he then went on to be one of the pioneers of plasmas interfacing liquids. This, including the interface of the plasma-biological sciences are still important topics in his research, being an ambassador for multi-disciplinary science. A second interesting example is his early initiative in the development of web-based learning for online delivery of MSc courses in Plasma and Vacuum Technology – two decades ago!
Bill recently retired as Professor of Physics at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) but is still research-active as Honoury Professor at QUB. Before that he was Director of the QUB Centre for Plasma Physics, Director of the QUB International Research Centre for Experimental Physics and the Internationalisation Leader for the School of Mathematics and Physics.
Bill obtained his BSc and PhD in Physics from QUB, after a period of 5 years as a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, USA, he returned to a Lectureship (Assistant Professorship) at the University of Ulster before returning to QUB. He is an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics. In 2013 he was awarded the ICPIG Franklin - von Engel Prize. His early research career was in atomic collision physics, particularly related to nuclear fusion needs. Bill's work on the production of negative hydrogen ions for neutral beam heating led into work on low pressure plasmas, and then he worked on electronegative plasmas in general which led to work on rf driven plasmas of the type used in semiconductor processing. Recently a main focus of his work has been on atmospheric pressure plasmas and plasmas in liquids, with an increasing interest in their application in medicine and catalysis. These are multidisciplinary projects with Pharmacists, Chemists and Electrical Engineers and companies. Bill has published about 200 articles in international refereed journals.
We know he is itching to see everyone again, and also the newcomers to our community, as soon as we safely can again.
Sláinte!
Prof. Deborah O’Connell and Prof. Timo Gans National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology (NCPST), Dublin City University, Ireland deborah.oconnell@dcu.ie timo.gans@dcu.ie
General Interest Announcements
Status Report of the 8th International Conference on Microelectronics and Plasma Technology (ICMAP) Held Online in January 2021 in Korea
ICMAP, a biennial international conference orga-nized by the Korean Vacuum Society, was founded to provide an open forum for the discussion of the cur-rent status of scientific and technological achieve-ments in the various fields of plasma applied research and developments including microelectronic devices.
The 8th International Conference on Microelectronics and Plasma Technology (ICMAP) was held online jointly with the 9th International Symposium on Functional Materials (ISFM) on January 17-20, 2021. The conference was successfully completed with 462 participants from 17 regions (countries). During the conference, main conference sessions (5 plenary lectures, 38 oral sessions including 4 keynote speakers and 40 invited speakers, and poster session), 7 tutorial sessions, and 1 special session were conducted. Even though the conference was limited to the online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it turned out to be a very successful conference.
The conference topics were as follows:
- Plasma Bioscience & Medicine
- Plasma Processing for Semiconductor and Display Devices
- Plasma Processes for Nanomaterial Development
- Plasma Diagnostics and Process Monitoring Technology
- Plasma Sources and Technology
- Plasma Modeling and Simulation Techniques
- 2D Materials and Their Application to Nano/Micro Devices
- Flexible and Stretchable Displays & Sensors
- Energy Related Devices
- Functional Materials - Synthesis, Characterizations, and Application (ISFM session)
Contact: Prof. Geun Young Yeom Sungkyunkwan University, Korea gyyeom@skku.edu
More information: The 8th ICMAP & The 9th ISFM secretariat.
Meetings and Online Seminars
Online LTP Seminar
The Online Low Temperature Plasma (OLTP) Seminar series schedule for January – June 2021 is now available. The next seminars in the new series of will be presented by Dr. Sedina Tsikata on March 10, 2021 and Drs. Igor Kaganovich and Alex Khrabrov on March 23, 2021.
International Online Plasma Seminar (IOPS)
The International Online Plasma Seminar (IOPS) is a non-profit international seminar on low temperature plasma science with bi-weekly sessions via Zoom. The main purpose of the seminar is to make high quality research results in low temperature plasma science available to our community to foster scientific discussion. Based on the speaker’s written consent, presentations will be recorded and will be made available for on-demand download. IOPS speakers can be nominated by anybody and are selected by the IOPS committee. The program for IOPS is available here. Nominations for speakers for July – December 2021 can also be made from this page.
The next seminars will be given by Prof. Selma Mededovic Thagard on March 11, 2021 and Prof. Richard Wirz and Dr. Mikael Tacu on March 25, 2021.
To attend IOPS, use this Zoom link.
MIPSE (Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering) Seminar Series
The MIPSE seminar series, usually held as an in-person event, is totally virtual this Winter. The seminars during Winter 2021 are covering the full range of plasma topics (not only LTP). The seminars are held on Wednesdays at 3:30 pm (US East Coast Time). Please send a request for the Zoom link to view the seminars to mipse-central@umich.edu. Seminars will be recorded and posted (with slides) on the same webpage.
- Winter 2021 schedule and abstracts
- Past MIPSE seminars (recordings and slides)
- Interviews of past seminar speakers
Contact: MIPSE Central mipse-central@umich.edu
8th International Plasma Science and Entrepreneurship Workshop – 8 & 9 November 2021, Prague, Czech Republic – Save the Date!
The 8th annual International Plasma Science and Interfaces workshop that will take place at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, on November 8 & 9 is waiting for your precious contribution. Don’t forget to mark this date in your diary!
Key topics and themes:
- Plasma medicine, medical and healthcare
- Plasma Surface modification & thin films
- Atmospheric pressure plasma at Micro/Nano scale
- Atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ)
- Nanoparticles generation and particle surface treatment
- Surface diagnostics, energetics, analytics and –metrology
- Plasma parameterization, diagnostics, simulation
- Plasma for Emission Abatement & CO2
- Plasma parameterization, diagnostics, simulation
Including:
- 2-day workshop
- 60+ lectures
- Max 15 Table top demonstrations
- Evening dinner / Social event
International scientists from universities, institutes and firms & scientific entrepreneurs are expected to participate. This invited-only workshop has an admission fee and will be a PhD (student) expert-level workshop focused on the achievements, challenges and opportunities for the scientific- and entrepreneurial- community working in the field.
We look forward to welcoming you at our workshop in November 2021 in Prague.
Contact:
- Scientific Chair & Host: Dr. Ondrej Kylian Charles University, ondrej.kylian@gmail.com
- Scientific co-Chair: Dr. Milan Simek IPP, simek@ipp.cas.cz
- Entrepreneurship Chair: Dr. Hugo de Haan Hugo.deHaan@visiondynamics.nl
23rd International Conference on Gas Discharges and their Applications (GD) - September 2022
We would like to inform you about the postponement of the 23rd International Conference on Gas Discharges and Their Applications (GD).
We have been monitoring and anticipating that the next six months will most likely show no major changes in travel restrictions and issues for holding of major events regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the Executive Management Committee of the conference has decided that a shift of the 23rd GD to 2022 is the reasonable course of action in order to be able to hold this conference as an in person event.
The 23rd GD will be held on 28th August to 2nd September 2022 in Greifswald, Germany. Please find the updated deadlines and further information on our website.
We are looking forward to welcoming you in Greifswald next year!
Contact: Prof. K.-D. Weltmann Local Organizing Committee gd2020@inp-greifswald.de Tel.: +49 3834 - 554 313
Do not hesitate to contact us for any questions.
Community Initiatives and Special Issues
2021 Special Issue 'Plasma Propulsions' to be published in Aerospace
We are living in a key period in the development and commercialization of plasma or electric propulsion (EP) for space missions. Recent progress ranges from the continuous improvement of the performance, lifetime, and cost of existing technologies to the development of new disruptive technologies that promise to stir our field. The availability of these propulsion systems is opening novel possibilities in the space sector, where new and exciting space missions can greatly benefit from the capabilities of EP. At the same time, multiple research challenges remain open in EP. On the one hand, we need to improve the physical understanding of the various processes and mechanisms that participate in the thruster’s operation in order to improve their efficiency, lifetime, and operational envelope of the most mature technologies. Additionally, there is room for research and development of new EP technologies that improve the actual durability, simplicity, and operational flexibility, among other characteristics.
This Special Issue on Plasma Space Propulsion in the journal Aerospace has the objective of reviewing the state of the art of EP and the latest research advances, as well as describing the direction in which the future plasma propulsion developments are heading. Works on current and emerging technologies, plasma modeling (theory and simulations), ground testing of EP, and technological developments for its specialization are encouraged from researchers across the plasma propulsion sector. The deadline for submissions is 15 September 2021.
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Pablo Fajardo pfajardo@ing.uc3m.es Prof. Dr. Mario Merino mario.merino@uc3m.es Prof. Dr. Jaume Navarro jaume.navarro@uc3m.es Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Research Highlights and Breakthroughs
Electrical Characteristics of the Sparks Produced by Electrosurgical Devices
The electrical characteristics of the sparks produced between the active electrode and the biological tissue during electrosurgical procedures have been studied by using the COMSOL simulation package based on a multicomponent fluid model. According to the literature (Dias et al. 2019), the presence of an organic tissue does not significantly affect the breakdown mechanism. Therefore, studying the breakdown between electrodes can be useful in better understanding the sparking formation during electrosurgery. The obtained results have shown that the minimum voltage required to initiate a spark depends on the electrode configuration and the applied voltage polarity resulting in electrosurgical voltage asymmetry.
Figure 1 shows a) the breakdown voltage curves and b) the electron density distributions at the onset of breakdown for various electrode arrangements (cylinder-cylinder, sphere-sphere, cylinder-sphere). The breakdown occurs most easily when both electrodes are cylindrical. With decreasing the radius of the cathode it is easier to achieve the breakdown as illustrated in Figure 2. Electrical breakdown does not occur equally in both directions between positive and negative polarizations of the sphere-metal plate arrangement due to asymmetry (see Figure 3). The results presented here could be very useful for the design of surgical electrodes to prevent potential complications during electrosurgical procedures.
Contact: Dr. Marija Radmilović-Radjenović Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade marija@ipb.ac.rs
Source: Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering (2021).
Significant Improvement of 2D MoS2 Photodetector Performance by Using Plasma-based Atomic Layer Etching Technique
Two dimensional metal dichalcogenide (TMD) materials are widely investigated as next generation semiconductor materials for logic devices, optoelectronics, solar cells, biosensors, etc. One important phenomenon of TMD materials is the change of bandgap energy and direct/indirect bandgap depending on the layers of the TMD. Therefore, for the various applications, the control of TMD layers from monolayer to multilayer is important. However, the precise control of TMD layers on wafers is difficult, especially for heterojunction TMD layers of different thickness.
We are investigating an important TMD material, MoS2, which changes its bandgap from 1.2 eV (multilayer, indirect) to 1.9 eV (monolayer, direct). We performed atomic layer etching (ALE) of MoS2 multilayer material. We formed a single-multilayer heterojunction MoS2 from the multilayer MoS2 by partially masking the multilayer MoS2 using photoresist. For ALE of MoS2, Cl radical adsorption was performed using a remote ICP. The desorption of chemisorbed S-Cl, Mo-Cl, etc. on the MoS2 surface was carried out using an Ar+ ion beam which enables more precise control of ion energy compared to conventional etching systems.
Forming a single-multilayer MoS2 FET by the ALE method not only improves photoresponsivity by a factor of 40 but also decreases the photoresponse time by a factor of 280. Previously, single-multilayer heterojunctions of 2D materials were randomly produced by flake exfoliation/transfer and searching by optical microscopy. Using this ALE technique, a way to fabricate single-multilayer 2D materials junctions at intended locations and on a wafer-scale could be established using multilayer MoS2 layer grown on wafers by CVD or ALD. Further applications of the ALE technique on other 2D materials are currently under way.
Contact: Prof. Geun Young Yeom Sungkyunkwan University, Korea gyyeom@skku.edu
How Gas Flow Design Can Influence the Performance of a DBD Plasma Reactor for Dry Reforming of Methane
DBD plasma reactors are commonly used in static ‘one inlet – one outlet’ design that goes against reactor design principles for multi-component reactions, such as dry reforming of methane (DRM). We have developed a novel reactor design, and investigated how the shape and size of the reaction zone, as well as gradual gas addition, and the method of mixing CO2 and CH4 can influence the conversion and product composition of DRM. Even in the standard ‘one inlet – one outlet’ design, the direction of the gas flow (i.e., short or long path through the reactor, which defines the gas velocity at fixed residence time), as well as the dimensions of the reaction zone and the power delivery to the reactor, largely affect the performance. Using gradual gas addition and separate plasma activation zones for the individual gases give increased conversions, by optimizing mixing ratios and kinetics. The choice of the main (pre-activated) gas and the direction of gas flow largely affect the conversion and energy cost, while the gas inlet position during separate addition only influences the product distribution.
This study is published in: Chem. Eng. J., 405 126618 (2021).
Contact: Prof. Dr. Annemie Bogaerts annemie.bogaerts@uantwerpen.be
Oscillations of an Anodic Plasma Plume in High Current Vacuum Arcs
The impact of current density on arc attachment characteristics at the anode of high current vacuum arcs was investigated using high-speed imaging techniques and spectroscopy. Current density affects the occurrence of different arc attachment modes, e.g. anode spot type 2. Sometimes anode spot type 2 is followed by several anodic plasma plumes. It is known that an overheating of anode surface, which depends on the instantaneous power delivered to the anode, determines the formation of the plasma region in front of the anode. High-speed imaging indicates that this region interacts actively with the cathodic plasma jets. Recently, we observed that under certain conditions, the anode spot type 2 is accompanied by an oscillating anodic plasma plume. This can be deduced from high-speed videos as a subsequent expansion and collapse of an anodic plasma plume. Moreover, the observed plasma plume oscillations seem to be correlated with high frequency contents in the measured voltage signals. Interpretation of the results is ongoing.
Contact: Dr. D. Gonzalez diego.gonzalez@inp-greifswald.de Dr. St. Franke steffen.franke@inp-greifswald.de INP Greifswald, Germany
Quantifying Plasma-Produced Hydroxyl Radicals in Solution and Their Dependence on the pH
OH radicals are the most important reactive species generated during water treatment by non-thermal plasma devices. Several works during the last few years reported suspiciously high concentrations of these radicals in solutions, not taking into account for their high reactivity and short lifetime.
In our recently published letter, we discuss the different approaches required to detect and quantify long- and short-lived reactive species. We report on the accurate quantification of the steady-state concentration and lifetime of plasma-produced hydroxyl radicals in water solutions at pH 3 and 7. We also discuss the differences based on their reactivity with other plasma-generated species. Finally, we show to what extent the use of chemical probes to quantify short-lived reactive species has an influence on the results and that these effects should be taken into account.
Contact: Dr. Francesco Tampieri and Prof. Cristina Canal Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain francesco.tampieri@upc.edu cristina.canal@upc.edu
Source: Anal. Chem. (2021)
First Iodine Plasma Used to Maneuver a Satellite in Space
During December 2020, the world’s first iodine electric propulsion system, the NPT30-I2-1U developed by the French company ThrustMe, was successfully fired in space onboard the Beihangkongshi-1 satellite (launched on 6 November 2020). Two 90-minute burns resulted in a total altitude change of 700 m and provided the first ever demonstration of iodine as a propellant for plasma-based propulsion systems.
The use of iodine as a propellant is ground-breaking for the satellite industry because it not only provides cost benefits over traditional propellants such as xenon, but also offers improved efficiency and is significantly more abundant. Iodine, which is a solid at room temperature, allows a trade-off between two important performance criteria for space propulsion systems: thrust-to-power ratio and total impulse.
Since the early 2000s, several space agencies, com-panies and research institutions, including NASA, Ecole Polytechnique, and Busek, have been racing towards the development of an iodine plasma thruster. This effort has been complicated by a lack of fundamental knowledge of iodine plasmas, corrosion issues, and difficulties in controlling sublimating solid propellants. ThrustMe, a startup that spun out from the LPP (CNRS and Ecole Polytechnique), has managed to achieve this ambitious goal, kick-starting a new era in space propulsion.
Contact: Dr. Dmytro Rafalskyi Thrustme, Verrières-le-Buisson, France dmytro.rafalskyi@thrustme.fr
Emission of the “Auroral” Green Line in Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet
(2) Photograph of the APPJ at electrode gap (A) 10 mm, (B) 15 mm, (C) 20 mm, (D) 25 mm, (E) 30 mm, (F) 35 mm, (G) 40 mm. The b/w image represents the filaments formed between the electrodes for a gap of 10 mm.
The emission of the “auroral” green line was studied in an argon kHz atmospheric pressure plasma jet. Observation of the green line is uncommon in atmospheric pressure sources because of the high quenching rates with N2 and O2. The line shape at 557.7 nm established that the emission was from the O(1S)N2 excimer. The plasma jet also produced other reactive species such as excited nitrogen, atomic oxygen, and OH.
The formation of the O(1S)N2 excimer in our work does not require additional gases such as N2 or O2. The O(1S) emission persists for all operating parameters that were varied including: gas flow rate, applied voltage, and linear electrode gap. The O(1S) state persists even though the plasma jet changes behavior from the diffusive to filamentary mode at higher electric fields. An upper limit on the atomic oxygen density was determined to be 1 x 1016 cm-3.
Based on these results, the plasma system described in this work is likely to be useful for a variety of ap-plications. The O(1S) state has been determined to be effective for cleaning and sterilization. We tested the efficacy of this system for wastewater treatment by degrading a solution of methylene blue dye. The treatment was effective and a more detailed study on this matter is forthcoming.
Contact: Dr. Surabhi Jaiswal Princeton University jaiswal@princeton.edu
Source: S. Jaiswal, E. M. Aguirre, and G. V. Prakash, Sci. Rep. 11, 1893 (2021).
Dose-dependent Effect of Plasma-chemical NO-containing Gas Flow on Wound Healing: An Experimental Study
Exogenous NO-therapy is used for the treatment of wound and inflammatory processes. It occurs through the delivery of NO-containing gas flow (NO-CGF) to the area of disease. The exposure to NO-CGF allows a deep penetration of wound tissues with NO, which was previously shown. NO-CGF can be characterized with certain physical, chemical and physicochemical parameters: temperature t, velocity v, nitric oxide concentration CNO and nitrogen dioxide concentration CNO2, mass flow rate of nitric oxide mNO and mass flow rate of nitrogen dioxide mNO2.
The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of the mass dose of NO in the NO-CGF on the inflammatory and reparative processes during wound healing, using histological, semi-quantitative and morphometric analyses. The experiment was performed in 36 white Wistar rats with full-thickness skin wounds with an area size of 3 cm2. The results of histological, semi-quantitative and morphometric analyses indicated that NO-CGF has the most beneficial effect on wound healing at treatment time 120 and 360 seconds corresponding to integral mass doses of NO on the wound surfaces of 240 mg and 720 mg and relative mass doses of NO per wound areas of 80 mg/cm2 and 240 mg/cm2. These results will be useful for the further improvements and effective application of NO-CGF producing devices in clinical practice.
Contact: Dr. Victor N. Vasilets N. N. Semenov Federal Research Center of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences vnvasilets@yandex.ru
Source: A. B. Shekhter et al, Clinical Plasma Medicine 19–20, 100101 (2020).
New Resources
Please submit your notices for new resources (e.g., newly published special issues, new databases, new reviews) to iltpc-central@umich.edu.
Career Opportunities
Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Modelling of Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing at CSIRO, Sydney, Australia
CSIRO, Australia’s largest government research organisation, is offering a three-year postdoctoral fellowship. The successful candidate will join a large team with expertise in computational modelling of metal and plasma processes, with a focus on metal additive manufacturing. You will draw on existing tools for modelling of plasma and liquid flows and metal properties, to develop advanced simulations of the wire-arc additive manufacturing process. The goal is to develop a model that reliably predicts all stages of part production, including flow in the arc plasma and the melt pool, and the evolving temperature distributions in the part.
Unfortunately, because of the border restrictions that Australia has imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the position is only open to Australian citizens or permanent residents, and/or to those who are currently in Australia. Applications close on Monday 15 March.
Contact: Dr. Tony Murphy CSIRO Manufacturing tony.murphy@csiro.au
Plasma Modeling at Lam Research, Tualatin, Oregon, USA
Lam Research is looking for a computational plasma scientist to employ cutting edge methods to model and simulate our complex plasma reactor systems and to provide innovative solutions to our design challenges.
Job Responsibilities:
- Formulate models of plasma reactor systems for wafer fabrication
- Work with process and hardware design engineers to model and simulate Multiphysics problems involving plasmas, heat and mass transfer, electromagnetics in the reactor level as well as wafer level
- Find root-causes, optimize process and hardware design with the aid of a combination of simulation and modeling tools
- Simplify complex phenomena into solvable models that capture the essence of the physics
- Take the initiative to address the limitations in full scale plasma simulation when needed, and adopt numerical methods that speed up/augment the physics based models
- Communicate findings to a larger multidisciplinary audience
- Provide innovative, impactful and scalable solutions to hardware and process challenges with the aid of simulations
- Put in place modeling and simulation methods and guidelines for plasmas to reduce throughput time and increase modeling impact
Minimum Qualifications: Graduate studies in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering with focus on computational plasmas:
- MS with 4+ years’ experience
- PhD with 0+ years’ experience
Skills:
- Plasma simulations on commercial packages and plasma codes
- EM simulations on commercial packages
- Experience with particle formulation of plasmas
- Expertise in fluid formulation of plasmas
- Exposure to Multiphysics modeling
- Coding in Python
Contact: Dr. Meenakshi Mamunuru Meenakshi.Mamunuru@lamresearch.com Manager – Reactor Modeling Program Lam Research Corporation, 11155 SW Leveton Drive, Tualatin, OR 97224 USA
Postdoctoral Position in Commercial Development of Electrospray Ion Thrusters, Astronautics Group, University of Southampton, UK
Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (Research Fellow) position, for a duration of 18 months with possible extension for an additional 6 months. The position is within the Astronautics Group, within the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Southampton, UK. The salary is £31,866 per annum. The start of the position is March 2021, however that start date is flexible.
The post will work on the development of electrospray ion thrusters for CubeSat propulsion, pushing the commercial development of the technology. The project, in collaboration with two small companies, AVS UK and RHP Technology Austria, and with funding from Innovate UK, will work to develop an electrospray thruster based upon the previous work completed at Southampton on this novel CubeSat propulsion technology. Work at Southampton will focus on the design and testing of the electrospray thruster, with the manufacturing of the thruster components completed at the commercial collaborators.
It is desirable that the person has experience in designing and testing ion thruster technology, preferably electrospray thrusters, a closely related technology such as ion beam experience, or a demonstrated aptitude for learning new fields of research. The person should have a PhD in aerospace engineering or a closely related discipline, preferably within the field space propulsion, or experimental beam physics. It is desirable that the person has experience of operating large vacuum chamber facilities. Additionally, a strong track record of high-quality journal publications is an advantage.
Contact: Dr. Charlie Ryan Assistant Professor in Astronautics University of Southampton, UK c.n.ryan@soton.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Position in Electrospray Ion Thrusters, Astronautics Group, University of Southampton, UK
Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (Research Fellow) position, for a duration of one year with a possible extension for an additional year. The position is within the Astronautics Group, within the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, at the University of Southampton, UK. The salary is £31,866 per annum. The start of the position is March 2021, however that start date is flexible.
The post will work on the development of a novel propulsion system for spacecraft that can use the same propellant for chemical as well as electric propulsion. The project, in collaboration with University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, will work to develop an electrospray ion thruster and chemical propulsion system that can utilise the same propellant. Work at Southampton will focus on the development of an electrospray ion thruster, including its design (based upon our previous work), and the experimental testing of the thruster. Some work will also be completed on the experimental testing of a chemical thruster.
It is desirable that the person has experience in designing and testing ion thruster technology, preferably electrospray thrusters, a closely related technology such as ion beam experience, or a demonstrated aptitude for learning new fields of research. The person should have a PhD in aerospace engineering or a closely related discipline, preferably within the field space propulsion, or experimental beam physics. It is desirable that the person has experience of operating large vacuum chamber facilities. Additionally, a strong track record of high-quality journal publications is an advantage.
Contact: Dr. Charlie Ryan Assistant Professor in Astronautics University of Southampton, UK c.n.ryan@soton.ac.uk
Program Director in the Convergence Accelerator Office of the US National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, USA
The Convergence Accelerator Office (CAO) within the Office of Integrative Activities (OIA) under the Office of the Director, of the National Science Foundation announces a Nationwide Search to Fill Multiple Program Director Positions for the Convergence Accelerator Program. OIA works across disciplinary boundaries to lead and coordinate strategic programs and opportunities that: advance research excellence and innovation; develop human and infrastructure capacity critical to the U.S. science and engineering enterprise; and promote engagement of scientists and engineers at all career stages.
Detailed job description and application process
Contact: Dr. Lara A. Campbell Program Director, NSF Convergence Accelerator National Science Foundation LCampbel@nsf.gov
Collaborative Opportunities
Please submit your notices for collaborative opportunities to iltpc-central@umich.edu.
Disclaimer
The content of this Newsletter comes from the contributions of members of the ILTPC. The Newsletter editors are attempting to provide as inclusive a communication as possible. However, inclusion of items in the Newsletter should not be interpreted as an endorsement by the editors nor as advertisement for commercial purposes. The content of this newsletter should also not be interpreted as an endorsement by our sponsors – the US National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, or the University of Michigan. The Newsletter editors may do some light editing of the original submissions, to maintain a consistent tone and style.