Loughborough University is a top-ten rated university in England for research intensity (REF2014) and an outstanding 66% of the work of Loughborough’s academic staff who were eligible to be submitted to the REF was judged as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, compared to a national average figure of 43%. In choosing Loughborough for your research, you’ll work alongside academics who are leaders in their field. You will benefit from comprehensive support and guidance from our Doctoral College, including tailored careers advice, to help you succeed in your research and future career. Spin-transfer torque magnetic RAM (STT-MRAM), which utilises spin-polarized charge current to read magnetic information, has grown into a multibillion-dollar technology. The single access to both read and write operations remains one of the limitations. Spin-orbitronic MRAM devices in a magnetic/non-magnetic bilayers promise a more efficient spintronic device architecture. It utilises the spin-orbit coupling that exists in heavy materials (such as Pt, W, and Ta) with modest charge-spin conversion efficiency (20 percent). One of the main criteria is to have materials with large spin Hall angle (SHA) for deterministic field-free magnetic switching at very low current densities. A new direction is to exploit topological (quantum) materials, which have inherently large spin-orbit coupling along with exotic quantum properties. These quantum properties span from non-trivial insulating to superconducting states as well as from paramagnetic to magnetic properties. Systematic interfacing of these quantum materials with metallic or insulating magnetic systems could potentially lead to a more efficient and tunable spin-orbitronic device. The PhD student will experimentally investigate spin-charge conversion in these technologically relevant materials interfaced with a magnetic layer. Due to the topological surface states and bulk conduction, these materials will have larger spin-charge conversion efficiency than conventional metals. The PhD student will participate in the nanofabrication of topological spintronic devices as well as their characterisation (low temperature electrical, thermal and spin transport measurements) and numerical modelling of the results. The project will be performed in collaboration with University College London (UK) and the Max Planck institute for microstructure physics (Germany).