Job Description

About Sandia:

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co-workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacations, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov*These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

We are seeking a motivated Postdoctoral Appointee to advance silicon photonic technologies for developing artificial intelligence (AI)-based hardware for advanced sensor technologies for remote and space-based applications. The research work will provide excellent training at the intersection of AI, photonic inverse-design, photonic and electronic integrated circuit design, computational imaging and information theory. The postdoc will have opportunities to collaborate with researchers at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT (https://cint.lanl.gov/) ) and Sandia’s National Security Photonics Center using Sandia's unique CINT and Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications (MESA) Fabrication Facility. In addition, the postdoc will get the opportunity to collaborate with leading experts of the fields from different departments of Sandia Labs as well as from US Universities, industry, and government partners.

On any given day, you may be called on to:

• Perform ground-breaking scientific research that involves inverse design of silicon photonic integrated circuits, nanofabrication, optical characterization, and electromagnetic modeling using finite-element or finite-difference methods.
• Implement new concepts in device design, measurement, fabrication, and packaging of photonic integrated circuits.
• Perform experiments in optics laboratories and other laboratories with special environments.
• Build world-first application demonstrations with photonic devices.
• Develop machine learning algorithms specific for certain image processing applications.
• Collaborate with researchers within and across different departments of Sandia Labs as well as external academia, industry, and government partners.
• Report research results in top-tier journals and present at conferences.
• Generate new intellectual property through patent filing as applicable.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

Qualifications We Require:

• PhD in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Optical Science, or other related STEM field conferred within five (5) years prior to employment
• Experience in:
• Performing original research, demonstrated through a record of invention, original publications in top-tier journals, and conference papers and presentations.
• Photonic device design and experimental characterization.
• Using software for device performance simulations using, for example, COMSOL, Matlab/Simulink, FDTD codes etc.
• Experience with nanofabrication such as electron beam lithography, RIE/ICP etching, Scanning electron micrography etc.
• Familiarity with basic machine learning algorithms for image processing.

Qualifications We Desire:

• Background in integrated photonics applications such as imaging, RF photonics, or optical communications.
• Electromagnetic modeling using FDTD or FEM based techniques.
• Design and test of photonics devices (such as waveguides, gratings, modulators, lasers, amplifiers, optical detectors)
• Design and test of photonics microsystems, i.e. integrated optical circuits with passive and active integrated devices
• Small-scale optical packaging of silicon photonics devices, including co-packaged with electronic chips
• High-speed characterization of devices, testing automation, electrical probe stations, operation of high speed and high frequency test equipment, such as bit error rate test equipment, network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and high-speed oscilloscopes.
• Interfacing electrical components to optical microsystems; examples are modulator drivers, transimpedance amplifiers, and electronic control circuits.
• Expertise in fabrication, characterization, and usage of various optical materials (e.g. silicon, III-V materials etc.).
• Experience with machine learning algorithms for image processing.

About Our Team:

Our department supports the Center for Integrated Nanotechnology (CINT). CINT is a Department of Energy/Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Center operating as a national user facility devoted to establishing the scientific principles that govern the design, performance, and integration of nanoscale materials. Through its core facility in Albuquerque and gateway facility in Los Alamos, CINT provides users from academia, industry, and government labs open access to the tools and expertise needed to explore the continuum from scientific discovery to the integration of nanostructures into the micro- and macro world. CINT is an equal partnership between Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of seven (7) calendar days, including the ‘posting date’. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

Security Clearance:

This position does not currently require a Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance.

Sandia will conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Furthermore, employees in New Mexico need to pass a U.S. Air Force background screen for access to Kirtland Air Force Base. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause access to be denied or terminated, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

If hired without a clearance and it subsequently becomes necessary to obtain and maintain one for the position, or you bid on positions that require a clearance, a pre-processing background review may be conducted prior to a required federal background investigation. Applicants for a DOE security clearance need to be U.S. citizens. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Members of the workforce (MOWs) hired at Sandia who require uncleared access for greater than 179 days during their employment, are required to go through the Uncleared Personal Identity Verification (UPIV) process. Access includes physical and/or cyber (logical) access, as well as remote access to any NNSA information technology (IT) systems. UPIV requirements are not applicable to individuals who require a DOE personnel security clearance for the performance of their SNL employment or to foreign nationals. The UPIV process will include the completion of a USAccess Enrollment, SF-85 (Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions) and OF-306 (Declaration of for Federal Employment). An unfavorable UPIV determination will result in immediate retrieval of the SNL issued badge, removal of cyber (logical) access and/or removal from SNL subcontract. All MOWs may appeal the unfavorable UPIV determination to DOE/NNSA immediately. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the MOW may try to go through the UPIV process one year after the decision date.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

Position Information:

This postdoctoral position is a temporary position for up to one year, which may be renewed at Sandia's discretion up to five additional years. The PhD must have been conferred within five years prior to employment.

Individuals in postdoctoral positions may bid on regular Sandia positions as internal candidates, and in some cases may be converted to regular career positions during their term if warranted by ongoing operational needs, continuing availability of funds, and satisfactory job performance.

Job ID: 693947

Job Family: 92

Regular/Temporary Position: T

Full/Part-Time Status: F

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.