Microwave measurement setups, systems and methods for the measurements of material properties of dielectrics, conductors, superconductors

Department

Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, Roma Tre University

Main research activities/topics/projects

The research activity is aimed at the development of measurement techniques and methods at microwave frequencies for the characterization of materials, be they conductors, superconductors, or dielectrics. Particular attention is paid to the metrological characterization of the techniques.
The dielectric properties of materials are studied in relation to their relevance for high-frequency electronics, while the properties of conductors have so far been investigated in relation to the need to obtain reliable and accurate measurements of the surface impedance at 8-30 GHz of multilayers metal for accelerating cavities.
Particular attention was paid to the measurement of surface impedance in technological superconductors, within collaborations with the main international laboratories (CERN, FermiLab, INFN), at cryogenic temperatures (from 4K to 120 K) and in the presence of very strong magnetic fields, up to 12 T, with the need to develop original measurement systems and data analysis methods suitable for the extreme experimental conditions required.
For a sample of recent activities, please refer to:
A. Alimenti et al., A Dielectric Loaded Resonator for the Measurement of the Complex Permittivity of Dielectric Substrates, IEEE Trans. Instrum. and Meas. 72 6001009 (2023)
A. Alimenti et al., Challenging microwave resonant measurement techniques for conducting material characterization, Meas. Sci. Technol. 30 065601 (2019).
K. Torokhtii et al., Proposal: Apparatus for Sensing
the Effect of Surface Roughness on the Surface Resistance of Metals, MDPI-Sensors 23, 139 (2023)
A. Alimenti et al., Surface Impedance Measurements in
Superconductors in DC Magnetic Fields: Challenges and Relevance to Particle Physics Experiments, IEEE
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 24, 12 (2021).

Working language

English. The Lab is multinational (Italian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Indian researchers/PhD). A bit of Italian can help, but it is by no means required.

Special entry requirements

Required: Basic (bachelor level) knowledge of Electromagnetism in closed structures. Knowledge of Office suite. LaTeX writing skill (basic or beyond).
Appreciated: Lab experience.
Preferred for short PhD/PostDoc stay: knowledge of working principles of VNA (Vector Network Analysers); LabView© environment

Duration in months (min-max)

Master Research: 3-8
PhD sandwich: 4-12
Post Doc: 2-12