Low-Level Radio Frequency Engineer; R&D Engineer

What You Will Do

This position will be filled at either the Job Title Lower/Higher level, depending on the skills of the selected candidate. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if the candidate is hired at the higher level.

The Accelerator Operations and Technology Division (AOT), Radio Frequency Engineering (RFE) group is seeking an R&D Engineer 2 or 3 for the Low-Level Radio-Frequency (LLRF) team.

The AOT division maintains, operates, and upgrades all accelerator systems used at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) complex. These consist of two 750-keV Cockcroft-Walton-based injector systems (H+ and H- systems), a 201.25-MHz drift-tube linear accelerator (LINAC) utilizing high-power diacrode tubes, an 805-MHz coupled cavity LINAC utilizing high-power klystrons as the primary power source, a proton storage ring, and roughly a kilometer of beam transport lines that deliver beam to the five independent research programs.

The RFE group is principally responsible for all radio frequency (RF) systems and their associated amplitude and phase control in relation to the accelerating beam.

Due to the different types of equipment that we are involved with, when working in AOT-RFE no day is the same as the next. Members of the LLRF team are involved in the design, construction, testing and installation of high-frequency electronics and software systems dedicated to the control of RF waveforms to achieve optimal acceleration and bunching of the beam. The LLRF team works on ultra stable frequency sources, solid-state and vacuum tube based amplifiers, temperature controlled coaxial lines spanning the length of the accelerator, electronics detecting the beam amplitude at the injector, resonance control systems compensating for cavity changes due to RF heating and fast electronics meant to prevent a cavity arc from damaging amplifiers producing megawatts of power.

The Low-Level Radio Frequency (LLRF) team at LANSCE is looking for a candidate with a background in Electrical Engineering or related field to join the RF Engineering group. This is a support role with dynamic responsibilities, guided by the priorities of the High-Power Radio Frequency (HPRF) plant and RF controls required for the LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP). Duties include troubleshooting programmatic equipment and extending to engineering and supervisory aspects of project execution, such as performing initial calculations, developing specifications, submitting procurement orders, and coordinating testing, delivery and installation.

The successful candidate will be a member of the Low-Level RF Team and will support the development and implementation of digital control systems using digital signal processing techniques. This work includes the development and design of custom analog, digital and RF printed circuit boards (PCBs), as well as writing HDL or test code in LabVIEW or MATLAB for these systems. Close collaboration and coordination with other engineers and technicians on the LLRF team along with cooperation across other accelerator systems groups (such as software, instrumentation and accelerator physics) is expected.

In addition to what was outlined at the lower level, at this level the successful candidate will independently lead the development and execution of low-level RF systems projects as a part of LAMP. This includes providing technical expertise and guidance on RF controls as well as offering both technical and operational guidance to LLRF technicians and engineers during installation, integration and operation of RF control systems.

• Proven success in design and development of analog, digital or RF printed circuit boards.
• Demonstrated ability with software development for system operation and testing.
• Demonstrated experience applying the full engineering design cycle including requirements gathering, design, implementation, debugging, testing, and documentation.
• A record of technical contributions evidenced by reports, publications, patents, or developed products.
• Demonstrative leadership for identifying, promoting, and developing new Laboratory-wide technical capabilities.
• Actively contributed to organizational planning, goal setting, and strategic direction.

• Demonstrated success in design and development of high-speed digital printed circuit boards utilizing FPGAs,…