PhD Candidates - TOPOCOM - Topological Solitons in Ferroics for Unconventional Computing
PhD Candidates
Yan Meng Chong
NTNU, Norway
Yan Meng Chong, a Malaysian scholar, completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at the National University of Singapore (NUS) between 2016 and 2023. During this period, he worked as a Research Assistant at NUS, contributing to a project focused on studying PZT ferroelectric ceramic and its electromechanical performance. Through this role, he gained expertise in the fabrication of PZT bulk ceramics and various structural characterization methods, particularly in ferroelectric domain imaging utilizing PFM and SEM/BSE techniques.
His interest with the intricate physics of ferroelectric materials at the nanoscale led him to embark on a new phase of his research journey in April 2024 as a doctoral candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The position is associated with TOPOCOM project under the supervision of Prof. Dennis Meier, he will be investigating ferroelectric domain walls for reservoir computing applications. His research will involve extensive studies on electronic transport phenomena at domain walls, with the aim of demonstrating their potential as an ideal reservoir for computing.
Maurice Colling
NTNU, Norway
Maurice Colling was born in Germany in 1996. He studied at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology from 2016 to 2023, where he obtained both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Physics. During this time, he acquired substantial knowledge about exotic magnetic spin textures like spin spirals and skyrmions. Furthermore, he developed a rich skill set in programming languages such as C++, CUDA, and Python, and simulated magnetic systems with high precision via CUDA-based programming for Monte Carlo simulations.
In March 2024, he became a member of the TOPOCOM project and started his position as a doctoral candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In his project, he will study topological spin-based dislocations and their potential application for unconventional low-energy computing devices.
Marcel Gasser
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Marcel Gasser was born in Austria in 1997. He studied at the University of Vienna from 2017 to 2023, where he obtained both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Physics. During this time, he acquired substantial knowledge about magnetic spin textures like skyrmions. Mostly, he simulated various potential magnetic sensor concepts using micromagnetics. Therefore, he developed a rich skill set in micromagnetic simulation and programming languages like Python.
In August 2024, he becomes a member of the TOPOCOM project and starts his position as a doctoral candidate at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. In his project, he will study electrical read-out of skyrmions based on Magnetic Tunnel Junctions exploiting the Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR). This will open the path for various future applications of skyrmion-based magnetic sensors.
Ali Hasan
University of Messina, Italy
Ali Hasan was born in Pakistan in 1993. He completed his Bachelor's studies in Mathematics and Physics at Quaid-e-Azam University from 2013 to 2015. He obtained Master's and Master of Philosophy degrees in Mathematics at Riphah International University in the period 2018-2022. Here, he acquired knowledge in both Pure and applied fields of Mathematics and developed excellent skills in solving Mathematical equations at advanced levels. Along with these, he also learned C++ skills to solve ordinary differential equations numerically.
In March 2024, he started working on the TOPOCOM project as a doctoral candidate at the University of Messina, Italy. His project is based on Designing a GPU-accelerated microelectric solver for scientific computing by combining both the dynamics of the electric and magnetic orders and the Study of combined electric and magnetic dynamics (e.g., in multiferroics).
Alen John
Singulus Technologies AG, Kahl am Main, Germany
Alen John was born in India in 1992. He pursued his higher education at the University of Kerala, earning both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Physics between 2011 and 2016. In 2024, he completed his MTech in Solid State Materials at the Indian Institute of Technology New Delhi, where he specialized in spintronics and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. His research focused on experimental spintronics, employing techniques such as magnetron sputtering, MOKE, XRR, and AHE for the deposition and characterization of magnetic multilayer thin films.
Alen has developed a robust skill set in software tools including LabVIEW, OriginPro, and Xpert Reflectivity Pro.
In June 2024, he joined the TOPOCOM project as a doctoral candidate at Singulus Technologies and enrolled at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz for his PhD. His current research involves depositing multilayer magnetic stacks for PMA, creating and stabilizing magnetic skyrmions, and collaborating on the development of a Hall sensor for the direct read-out of these magnetic textures.
Anna Liedtke
Infineon Technologies AG, Austria
Anna Liedtke was born in Germany in 1999. She studied at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz from 2017 to 2023, where she obtained both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Physics. Through transport measurements on the ferromagnetic van der Waals materials Fe3GeTe2 and Co-doped Fe3GeTe2, she explored the feasibility of manipulating magnetization using bulk spin-orbit torques. Furthermore, she developed a rich skillset in the fabrication of devices containing flakes of van-der Waals materials.
In September 2024, she will join the TOPOCOM project and start her position at Infineon Technologies AG Austria. In her project she will develop a multi-revolution counter sensor based on topologically protected chiral magnetic structures known as skyrmions.
Anusree N
University of Crete, Greece
Anusree N was born in 2000 in Kerala, India. She obtained her Bachelor's (2018-2021) and Master's (2021-2023) in Physics from Kannur University in Kerala. While pursuing her bachelor’s, in addition to establishing a groundwork in physics and mathematics, she undertook language courses. During her master's course, she acquired basic knowledge on ferromagnets and ferroelectrics. Her master's thesis was on the topic of Solitons where she applied methods of field theory and nonlinear dynamics. This experience enriched her understanding of the subject and allowed her to further develop her skills in Python programming.
She joined the TOPOCOM network as a doctoral candidate at the University of Crete, Greece in June 2024. During this project, she will work on modeling ferromagnets and ferroelectrics and will develop a unified theory of the dynamics of magnetic and electric skyrmionic textures.
Krishna Patel
Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg
Krishna Patel was born in India in 1998. In 2020, she obtained a master's degree in physics from the University and Institute of Advanced Research, Gujarat, after completing her bachelor's degree in physics in 2018. She used molecular dynamics simulations to examine the structural and dynamical properties of several liquid systems during her master's program. She also taught basic python programming and Object Oriented Programming in C++ to Bachelor’s students at Pandit Deendayal Energy University. Subsequently, she joined as a junior research fellow at Indus University, where she worked on a project utilizing Density Functional Theory to examine the thermodynamic stability of ternary intermediate phases of the Ni3(Ti,X) family [X = Zr, V, Mo, Nb].
In June 2024, she will become a member of the TOPOCOM project, work as a research employee at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, and pursue a doctorate at the University of Luxembourg. Her study will focus on electric quasiparticles for unconventional computing.
Minh Duc Tran
Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Minh Duc Tran was born in 1997 in Vietnam. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Vietnam National University in Hanoi and his Master’s degree from Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, where he focused on ionic diffusion in functional oxides for brain-inspired computing. His comprehensive expertise in nanofabrication and current-induced dynamics contributed to realizing a magnetic skyrmion transistor gated by voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy.
In May 2024, he joined the TOPOCOM project as a doctoral candidate at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz to investigate the topology-dependent dynamics of skyrmions and skyrmion lattices in magnetic multilayers by various types of excitation to obtain low-power and efficient manipulation of the topological spin structures required for applications in non-conventional computing.