The research focus of the Institute of Materials Research lies in the development of new material solutions and their process technologies for applications in aerospace, digitalisation as well as the energy and transport sectors. In cooperation with other DLR institutes and national and international partners, the Institute of Materials Research works on basic and applied research.

What to expect

The position is part of the binational DFG project "Combinatorial development of efficient thermoelectric half-Heusler materials using machine learning, DFT and high-throughput experiments", which is being carried out in cooperation between the DLR Institute of Materials Research, the University of Montpellier and the Ruhr University Bochum. The goal of the department “Thermoelectric materials and systems” is to pioneer robust thermoelectric modules and generators capable of harnessing (waste) heat and converting it into electrical power. These innovations cater to diverse applications, serving as , self-sustainable electric power sources, thermal sensors and Peltier heat pumps in automotive technology, energy infrastructures, and aerospace endeavors. The scope of work ranges from the optimization of material synthesis routes and measurement technique development over interface engineering to the fabrication of thermoelectric module prototypes and system optimization.The aim of the project is to develop highly effective thermoelectric materials based on environmentally friendly and readily available starting materials. In particular, the aim is to synthesise new compositions, establish composition-microstructure-property relationships and further develop high-throughput measurement and evaluation methods.

Your tasks

• Synthesis of thermoelectric semiconductor materials from the class of half-Heusler compounds using melting or powder metallurgical processes.
• Characterisation of thermoelectric samples with regard to microstructure (SEM, EDX, XRD), composition and integral electrical and thermal transport properties.
• Local determination of the transport properties of graded or inhomogeneous samples, further development of existing measurement systems and analysis tools.
• Further development of effective media models for the consideration of secondary phases in transport modelling.
• Development of transport models taking into account the electronic band structure based on the measurement results.
• Analysing the results and publishing them in conference papers and scientific articles.
• Supervision of internships, Bachelor's and Master's theses, support for doctoral theses.

Your profile

• Master's or diploma degree in a natural science or engineering field/subject, e.g. materials science, physics, chemistry or comparable
• very good doctorade: Dr. rer. nat., Dr.-Ing. or comparable
• three or more scientific publications (peer-reviewed)

• extensive laboratory experience in the high-temperature bulk synthesis of inorganic thermoelectric compound semiconductors, ideally of half-Heuseler compounds and experience in the functional and microstructural characterization of thermoelectric materials (SEM; XRD, EDX, AFM...)
• sound knowledge of solid-state physics, semiconducturs physics, solid-state chemistry, experience in automated data processing and experience in the use of AI-based tools
• basic experience in meeasurement technology and knowledge of a programming language (Phyton, MATLAB)
• very good knowledge of written and spoken German and English and the ability to work in an international team of scientists, technicians, students and international co-operation partners

We look forward to getting to know you!

If you have any questions about this position (Vacancy-ID 753) please contact:

Johannes de Boor 
Tel.: +49 2203 601 4037