Two year postdoc position on THz spectroscopy at the University of Duisburg Essen, Germany (Deadline: 19.12.2025)
The future use of hydrogen in industrial processes poses significant challenges. For instance, the embrittlement of steels (e.g., flanges, pipe transitions) due to hydrogen uptake can lead to catastrophic failures, and there are currently no non-destructive testing methods for this hydrogen uptake. It is therefore the long-term vision to develop a non-destructive sensor principle based on electronic changes due to hydrogen uptake. The benefits would be apparent: such a sensor could be used to characterise materials in use, make meaningful estimates of their service life and improve safety technology – all of which would increase the cost-efficiency of using these materials.
In order to develop this sensor principle, defined model materials will be charged with hydrogen. The electronic changes due to hydrogen uptake will be monitored by a combination of electronic transport characterization (Seebeck measurements) as well as terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy.
Hereby, we want to clarify the following research questions: i) Can hydrogen be systematically detected in a metal sample using a combination of Seebeck measurement and THz spectroscopy? ii) How well can this be quantified? ii) Both methods act on the surface, so how well can the surface signal be correlated with the bulk values?
Start of employment at the earliest possible date
Duration of employment: 2 years
Your main tasks
- Independent work on the specified research topic
- Assistance in supervising doctoral candidates and students during their master’s and bachelor’s theses
Your profile
- Above-average university degree in physics or a comparable subject, as well as doctoral studies in the field of THz spectroscopy
- Previous scientific experience, such as knowledge of experimental physics and/or materials science, and publication experience are required
- Experience abroad is desirable
Application deadline: 19.12.2025
