Assistant Scientist; Theoretical Studies of Laser-Material Interactions

Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Oct 05, 2026

$82,500 to $110,000

Job Overview:

• Develop modeling capabilities to investigated the interaction of laser pulses with nanostructures and nanofeatures.
• Investigate the origin of laser induced damage in complex optical materials (gratings, multilayer dielectric coatings, meta optics, mixed materials) .
• Help develop designing criteria for next generation optical coatings with extended lifetime performance.
• Active communication/collaboration with other internal and external groups with targeted scope of work that is relevant to LLE's current and future needs.

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Work closely with scientist and engineers with expertise in optical design, coating fabrication, material characterization and laser damage testing.
• Interface with LLE staff while collaborating on projects and supporting facility operations.
• Communicate research results through internal reports, publish in refereed journals, and present at internal laboratory meetings and conference settings.
• Survey, study, and peer review relevant scientific literature
• Responsible for developing and maintaining computational capabilities in support of optical materials development and fabrication of coating and laser components

• PhD - Physics, Applied Physics, Materials Science, or other relevant fields
• Experience using multiphysics computational tools .
• Strong background in electromagnetic theory and applications.
• Research experience in the interaction of high intensity electromagnetic waves with material (propagation, energy coupling, nonlinear processes etc.)

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