stillingsbetegnelse:
PhD scholarship in Corrosion Reliability of Electrical Contacts

jobbeskrivelse:
The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark, Section of Materials and Surface Engineering are seeking candidate for 1 PhD position in the field of “Corrosion reliability of electrical contacts” focusing on understanding the material combinations and failure mechanisms in Au based contacts used today, and the development of new contact systems free of gold. The proposed PhD project is a part of the High performance electrical contacts (HiPEC) consortium funded by Innovations Fonden, Denmark. The PhD position is expected to start January 1st 2016. Responsibilities and tasks Present electrical contacts systems are based on heavy use of costly gold. The layers are typically made of a substrate with a layer of nickel followed by a layer of gold with thickness depending on the application and exposure conditions. Main issues with the electrical contacts are the corrosion and wear, which limits the freedom to reduce the gold thickness. Only two solutions can be foreseen to solve this problem: (i) use of a corrosion resistance passive layer underneath of the gold instead of nickel so that the corrosion is reduced in case of wear and (ii) use a non-electrochemically active top layer with matching resistivity level to gold. This PhD project focus on understanding the corrosion reliability issues of the presently used gold based contacts in detail including the failure mechanisms. Focus will be on understanding the problems with materials combinations including substrate material and coating as well as the electrical contact loss due to fretting corrosion. A special focus will be on the contacts used for hearing aids applications. The PhD project will also focus on developing new contact systems without the use of Au, while using an under layer of easily passivating materials followed by a hard layer of conducting coating synthesized by PVD based coatings. The aim of the new contact material combination will be to provide greater freedom for substrate choice together with building high performance contacts with necessary electrical properties without the use of gold. Qualifications Candidates for the position should have a Master degree in materials science and engineering, physics, chemistry or related subjects such as corrosion science and engineering with knowledge of materials engineering and chemistry. Prior experience on corrosion reliability of electronics or knowledge on electrical contact systems is an advantage. Combination of knowledge in electronics, materials, and reliability is also preferred. Approval and Enrolment The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide. Assessment The assessment of the applicants will be made by Professor Rajan Ambat. We offer We offer an interesting and challenging job in an international environment focusing on education, research, public-sector consultancy and innovation, which contribute to enhancing the economy and improving social welfare. We strive for academic excellence, collegial respect and freedom tempered by responsibility. The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is a leading technical university in northern Europe and benchmarks with the best universities in the world. Salary and appointment terms The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students. The period of employment is 3 years. Further information Further information may be obtained from Professor Rajan Ambat, tel.: +45 4525 2181, e-mail: ram (at) mek.dtu.dk. You can read more about Department of Mechanical Engineering on http://www.mek.dtu.dk. Application Please submit your online application no later than November 17th 2015. Applications must be submitted as one pdf file containing all materials to b

Arbejdsgiver Navn: Danmarks Tekniske Universitet

Arbejdsgiver telefonnummer: 45252525

Arbejdsgiver faxnummer: 45881799

Job kort beskrivelse:
Undervisning og forskning på universiteter og højere læreranstalter

land: Danmark

region: Hovedstaden

krævede uddannelse: Ikke angivet

Kilde til jobtilbud: AMS, Offentlige arbejdsformidlinger, Danmark