Postdoctoral Appointee - Z Machine, Onsite

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Sandia National Laboratories is seeking a creative, driven postdoctoral researcher to join our pulsed power accelerator team at the Z Facility, the world's largest laboratory pulsed power device. Pulsed power is a broad, multidisciplinary field, so we invite applicants from several disciplines including electrical engineering, physics, and related fields.

On any given day, you may be called to conduct research in one of several topical areas such as:

• Experimental vacuum system design, construction, and operation in pulsed power laboratories
• Mechanical and/or electrical design and assembly of pulsed power equipment
• Measurements of materials out gassing and/or electrode desorption in extreme environments
• Modeling of advanced pulsed power system designs using state-of-the-art circuit and/or particle-in-cell research codes
• Operate, modify, or design new high power RF transmission systems to drive kW-scale capacitively coupled plasmas
• Development and analysis of conventional and novel plasma diagnostics to understand low temperature plasma phenomena
• Development and analysis of novel plasma diagnostics (optical spectroscopy, laser probing) to understand plasma formation on electrodes in high-current pulsed power accelerators
• Apply physics principles to explore and understand electrode-plasma dynamics and electrical power delivery on large pulsed power accelerators used for inertial confinement fusion, laboratory astrophysics, and other scientific missions
• Develop new experimental testing capabilities in a modern high voltage engineering laboratory dedicated to accelerator materials science
• Lead the design and execution of complex scientific experiments at the Z Pulsed Power Facility, as well as several other pulsed power accelerators and facilities
• Collaborate with computational physicists to develop new electrode physics models for the world's most advanced plasma simulation codes used for coupling electrical energy to high energy density experiments

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant will be required to work onsite.

• PhD in Electrical engineering, Physics, or related STEM field conferred within 5 years of start date
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q clearance

• Outstanding academic record
• Experience with data acquisition and scientific analysis software such as MATLAB
• Experience analyzing experimental measurements involving visible spectroscopy and/or laser interferometry techniques with a focus on low density plasma measurements
• Experience at state-of-the-art pulsed power, high energy laser, and/or accelerator facilities
• Experience with designing, operating, and simulating high power RF transmission circuitry and systems
• Experience with designing and implementing RF matching networks to optimally couple power to capacitively coupled plasma
• Experience in high power microwave design and operation
• Experience working in a team environment to define and solve challenging, complex problems
• Demonstrated experimental, analytical, and data management skills
• Outstanding communication skills as demonstrated in technical publications, reports, and/or technical project presentations

A strong desire to work in a fast paced and technically challenging research environment

Department 1659, part of the Pulsed Power Science and Technology group (1650), conducts experiments in support of power flow and energy coupling on Z and other small-scale facilities. We advance validated computational modeling for power flow design to simulate plasma formation on electrode surfaces. Our organization develops new systems for Z to provide in-situ electrode cleaning to mitigate or eliminate contaminant plasma formation on electrodes which limit current coupling efficiency.

Furthermore, we evaluate advanced power flow coupling elements to provide faster risetimes and/or higher currents. The…