PhD Studentship: Physical Neuromorphic Computing: Novel Materials and Devices

Doctorat / PhD Département : Department of Physics Type de contrat : Full Time,Fixed-Term/Contract Date limite de candidature : 2027-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

Overview The DPhil project will explore next-generation neuromorphic computing technologies that exploit the natural dynamics of physical systems to perform brain-inspired information processing. The research will be undertaken within the MIND Research Group ( https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research/group/magnetism-intelligent-devices-mind ) at the Department of Physics, University of Oxford, under the supervision of Dr Safeer Chenattukuzhiyil. The PhD studentship is funded through the supervisor's Royal Society grant, covering tuition fees and providing a standard stipend. Project Details The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has created an increasing demand for computing hardware capable of processing complex information with high speed and low energy consumption. Conventional AI systems rely on energy-intensive silicon processors, presenting growing challenges related to power consumption, scalability and computational efficiency. These limitations motivate the development of alternative computing architectures that exploit physical phenomena for information processing. This DPhil project will focus on physics-based neuromorphic computing, where nonlinear interactions and collective dynamics in physical systems are harnessed to perform computation directly in hardware. The research will investigate spin-wave dynamics and two-dimensional (2D) spintronic circuits as platforms for developing compact, high-speed and energy-efficient neuromorphic devices. The project builds on the MIND Research Group's recent work in physics-based neuromorphic computing, spanning real-time robotic control using nonlinear wave dynamics and the exploration of nanoscale spin-wave computing. A major research direction will involve spin waves, collective excitations of magnetisation that propagate through magnetic materials. Their nonlinear dynamics, interference and interactions provide opportunities for physical reservoir computing and brain-inspired information processing. The research will investigate spin-wave-based devices and their application to computational tasks such as pattern recognition, temporal information processing and physical neural networks. The project will also explore neuromorphic circuits based on two-dimensional van der Waals materials. These atomically thin materials provide opportunities to engineer spin transport, spin-charge interconversion and magnetic interactions within nanoscale devices. The research will investigate spintronic circuit architectures that exploit these properties to realise artificial neurons, synaptic functionalities and interconnected computing elements. The research will combine experimental device development, nanofabrication, electrical and magnetic characterisation, and computational modelling to investigate the underlying physical mechanisms and…