Postdoctoral Appointee - Magnetic Materials Design and Synthesis Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories
Location: Albuquerque, USA
Posted On: 2024-10-17
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About Sandia:

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

  • Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
  • Extraordinary co-workers
  • Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
  • Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
  • Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
  • Generous vacations, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov*These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

Our team is seeking a Postdoctoral Appointee to conduct innovative research on magnetic materials design and synthesis. These magnetic materials will be tailored for applications that include power electronics, electric machines, and efficient computing. You will be designing these magnetic materials using advanced computational tools, and both synthesize and perform characterization measurements to experimentally validate their performance.

Duties and tasks will involve:

  • Designing advanced magnetic materials using a suite of computational tools
  • Performing magnetic, electrical, structural, and/or other material characterization measurements in the laboratory to verify the performance of the synthesized magnetic materials, and to provide feedback on improving their design for the next round of fabrication
  • Interact with a diverse team of physicists, materials scientists, and electrical engineers to develop prototype magnetic devices
  • Publish research results in journal articles and present at professional conferences

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

Qualifications We Require:

  • Possess, or are pursuing, a PhD in in physics, chemistry, materials science, electrical engineering, or an equivalent field, PhD must be conferred within five years prior to employment
  • Background or research experience with magnetics materials and/or materials science
  • Record of research as demonstrated by publications in peer-reviewed journals or competitive conference proceedings
  • Able to acquire and maintain a DOE security clearance

Qualifications We Desire:

  • Experience with materials characterization techniques including vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy, electrical/thermal conductivity, and related techniques
  • Experience or strong familiarity with computational tools for the design of novel functional materials
  • Experience synthesizing novel materials (solid-state chemistry, solution-based chemistry, air-free chemistry techniques, powder processing methods, powder consolidation, etc.)
  • Experience with machine learning (ML) and working with large data sets
  • Familiarity with spark plasma sintering (SPS)
  • Willingness and the ability to work with diverse, multi-disciplinary team

About Our Team:

The Semiconductor Material and Device Sciences Department 1873 is engaged in compound semiconductor physics and device research within 1800, the Center for Material, Physical, and Chemical sciences. One of several current focus areas is wide-bandgap materials and devices for power electronics and other applications, which have enormous potential for Sandia’s missions. Other ongoing efforts include radiation effects, defect spectroscopy, reliability physics, and magnetic materials research.

The Department's research uses staff expertise in experimental and theoretical semiconductor physics, innovative micro- and nano-fabrication, and advanced material and device characterization and modeling. It partners closely with other organizations, including the Advanced Electronic and Optoelectronic Materials Department 1876, other departments in Centers 1300, 5200, 8800, and elsewhere within Sandia, as well as university and industry collaborators throughout the world. We make use of innovative growth and fabrication facilities associated with MESA (Sandia's Microsystems Engineering, Science, and Applications complex); scientific facilities at CINT (the joint Sandia / Los Alamos Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies); and staff laboratories with a wide array of characterization equipment.

Our team is committed to nurturing an environment compatible with a broad group of people and perspectives in accordance with the changing makeup of the workforce. In support of this vision, our center actively recruits applicants from diverse groups of backgrounds and fosters an inclusive community. Join us and work towards your goals while making a difference!

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of seven (7) calendar days, including the ‘posting date’. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Security Clearance:

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE L-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by the DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

Position Information:

This postdoctoral position is a temporary position for up to one year, which may be renewed at Sandia's discretion up to five additional years. The PhD must have been conferred within five years prior to employment.

Individuals in postdoctoral positions may bid on regular Sandia positions as internal candidates, and in some cases may be converted to regular career positions during their term if warranted by ongoing operational needs, continuing availability of funds, and satisfactory job performance.

Job ID: 694266

Job Family: 92

Regular/Temporary Position: T

Full/Part-Time Status: F

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