Nanocalorimetry Sensor Design and Fabrication

The Material Measurement Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking qualified persons (U.S. citizens preferred) to join a multi-disciplinary team of scientists working to advance the current state-of-the-art in nanocalorimetry. This individual will work closely with the leaders of this multi-effort project but will personally be responsible for developing and fabricating new sensor designs optimized for a variety of applications, including characterization of thin film materials and in-situ monitoring of plasmas.

• Work with other project team members to design new nanocalorimetry sensors for multiple applications
• Use Finite Element Analysis to model the thermal and mechanical behavior of new sensor designs prior to fabrication
• Fabricate sensors in the NIST Nanofab
• Utilize multiple techniques to determine the mass of samples prior to thermal analysis
• Perform nanocalorimetry experiments and conduct subsequent data analysis to extract material properties as needed
• Publish results in peer reviewed scientific journals and present results at scientific conferences

• Ph.D. in materials science, physics, chemistry, chemical engineering or related field
• Expertise in thermal analysis of materials, including calorimetry-based measurements
• Experience with CAD (Solidworks preferred) and FEA (Abaqus preferred) software
• Experience with materials characterization techniques, including LDV, optical profilometry, and electron microscopy
• Experience with cleanroom operations and standard nanofabrication processes
• Strong written and oral communication skills; ability to work independently and as part of a team

This opportunity is to be an associate researcher in the Materials Measurement Science Division for a term of 1 year, with options to renew. Associate researchers are NOT Federal Employees, but they work aside NIST researchers and with NIST’s often world-class instrumentation. Relocation expenses will not be provided. U.S. citizens hired into associate positions may have the opportunity to seek longer term Federal Employment.