Postdoctoral Fellow; PREP

PREP Research Associate – CHIPS Funded Project

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience Program (PREP). The Research Associate will support a collaboration between NIST and an academic institution on thermoreflectance thermal property measurements. The role involves validating and improving optical pump–probe thermal‑property measurement methods, developing instrumentation, optimizing protocols, and providing thermal property data for thin‑film and multilayer materials.

The researcher will work closely with NIST experts in optics, thermal metrology, scientific instrument design, and uncertainty analysis.

Research

Title:

Thermoreflectance Thermal Property Measurements (U.S. Citizens Preferred)

• Designing, building, operating, and/or refining pump‑probe instrumentation
• Operating and developing physics‑based analysis software
• Measuring thermal property data for internal and external collaborators and stakeholders
• Depositing and characterizing thin films in the NIST Nano Fab
• Presenting results at internal and/or external meetings as required
• Writing and publishing results

• Ph.D. in physics, optics, materials science/engineering, or a related field
• Experience in designing, building, and operating thermoreflectance‑based measurement instrumentation
• Experience in thermal metrology, thermal analysis, and optics
• Experience in thin film deposition and thin film characterization
• Experience with data modeling and programming (MATLAB required)
• Expertise in semiconductor manufacturing processes and device failure analysis
• Experience working in clean rooms
• Ability to work collaboratively and independently
• Strong oral and written communication skills

U.S. citizenship is preferred.