PhD Student Position – 4D-Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) Approaches for Multiscale Characterization of Nanoscale Devices

Project Goals: The primary objective is to characterize the material crystallography and local strain within devices and interconnects to enable direct correlation between materials structure and chemistry and device characteristics.The student will deploy modern 4D STEM methods for characterizing strain.

Key responsibilities & Research Activities:

• Method Development: Developing next-generation 4D-STEM workflows, including multi-slice electron ptychography, and integrating them with smart  scanning strategies.
• Advanced Characterization: Use STEM - PED techniques for local strain in devices and crystallography of interconnects and compare with existing methods.
• Correlative Microscopy: Correlate TEM structural data with spectroscopic measurements (electron energy loss spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), quantitative chemical measurements (atom probe tomography) and electrical data.
• Data analysis: Develop advanced data-processing methods and interpret complex datasets influenced by multiple interacting physical phenomena.

Prof. Nabil Bassim in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at McMaster University invites applications for a fully funded PhD position to join a collaborative research project with government and industry partners.

This project offers a unique opportunity to create new methodologies, uncover fundamental structure–property relationships, and contribute to the future of both nextgeneration microelectronics and emerging quantum technologies. This student will work at the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy (CCEM), home to Canada’s most advanced electron microscopy infrastructure, including a ThermoFisher Spectra 300 TEM equipped with specialized precession electron diffraction (PED) hardware.

•  Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Materials Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline
• Strong analytical skills and creative problem solving, particularly in designing experiments, developing advanced data-processing methods, and interpreting complex datasets influenced by multiple interacting physical phenomena
• Background in crystallography and diffraction physics, hands-on experience with TEM/STEM, or experience with Python or MATLAB is highly desirable.