The University of Rostock offers a diverse, varied and challenging position in a tradition-conscious, yet innovative, modern and family-friendly university in a lively city by the sea.
At the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institute of Physics, Quantum Technology Research Group, subject to allocation of funds, we are filling the following position at the earliest possible date on a temporary basis for a period of 3 years for the project “nanogap cavity microscopy":
Research Assistant (m/f/d) - Experimental Physics
Start date at the earliest possible date
Working hours part-time with 30 hours
Remuneration pay group 13 TV-L
Location Rostock
Tender number P 122/2025
Limitation limited to 3 years
Application time 2025-08-20

E-MAIL:

friedemann.reinhard@uni-rostock.de
The quantum technology group is presently looking for a new PhD student (m/f/d) to join our team. The person hired shall spearhead a line of research aiming to turn plasmonic nanogap cavities into a scanning probe technique. Plasmonic nanogap cavities are plasmonic nanoparticles placed few nanometers above a metallic surface. They can confine light to atomic dimensions and can enhance luminescence by four orders of magnitude. So far, these devices have been studied in stationary assemblies, where nanoparticles cannot be moved. In the present project we will harness “planar scanning probe microscopy”, a flexible approach to scanning probe microscopy developed in our group (Ernst … Reinhard, ACS Photonics 6, 2 (2019)) to turn nanogap cavities into a scanning probe technique. This will involve the following steps:

• conduct research on optical near-field microscopy with the goal of obtaining a PhD degree
• operate an existing setup for planar scanning probe microscopy to perform experiments on scanning nanogap cavities, notably scanning probe microscopy of defect centers in 2D materials
• develop scanning probe near-field sensors based on solution-synthesized metallic nanoparticles
• continuously improve scanning probe positioning techniques, involving novel optical sensing schemes for nanoscale positions and angles and advanced feedback electronics
• publish results and present findings at national and international conferences