>> A-185272-26: Associate Research Scientist (PREP0004233)

Johns Hopkins University; Gaithersburg (MD); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Johns Hopkins University seeks an Associate Research Scientist to join the NIST Professional Research Experience program. The position focuses on high-speed metrology for magnetoelectronic devices, requiring a Ph.D. in Physics or Electrical Engineering. Responsibilities include developing optical measurement systems and analyzing data. The role demands strong self-motivation and communication skills, with a maximum duration of 12 months. The position is located in Boulder, CO, and involves significant collaboration with NIST staff.

Qualifications

• Several years of post-degree experience in relevant areas preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in temperature-dependent magnetic simulations.
• Experience developing novel data acquisition platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, maintain, and use optical measurement systems.
• Develop high speed electronic measurements using various tools.
• Present results at internal and external meetings.

Skills

Optical measurement systems design

Microwave measurements

Data analysis

Fabrication of magnetic nanostructures

Micromagnetic simulation tools

Scripting languages proficiency

Strong communication skills

Education

Ph.D. in Physics, Electrical Engineering, or related field

Tools

SQUID

Ferromagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

MOKE

X-ray reflectometry

Secondary-ion mass spectrometry

Job description

Associate Research Scientist (PREP0004233)

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest and thus requires that such institutions be the recipients of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

Research Title

High speed metrology for magnetoelectronic devices and models: Research Associate

The work will entail:

This position focuses on developing film‑level optical methods of measuring the Heisenberg exchange parameter in thin films relevant to the magnetic random‑access memory (MRAM) industry. These measurements will be correlated with detailed measurements of device performance made on devices fabricated at NIST, and these correlations will be used to develop better models of device switching. In addition, the Associate will work on the development of electrical methods for estimating the attempt time of MRAM bit cells. In each of these projects the Associate will work closely with NIST staff, but the Associate must be self‑motivated in designing and executing measurements, developing robust data analysis methods with proper statistical validation, and reporting these results to the group and via publication. This is a fast‑paced, high‑impact, short‑term research position with a maximum duration of 12 months. Note that this is an in‑person position located in Boulder, CO.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, maintain, and use optical measurement systems based on inelastic light scattering.
• Develop high speed electronic (microwave) measurements, including pulsed, harmonic, sampled and real‑time measurement methods using microwave sources, arbitrary waveform generators, and oscilloscopes.
• Analyze heterogeneous data sources including optical spectra, read‑ and write‑error rate datastreams, real‑time and sampled high‑speed electronic traces.
• Analyze temperature‑dependent magnetization data using advanced atomistic fitting models.
• Fabricate magnetoelectronic devices using optical and electron‑beam lithography, reactive and physical ion etching methods.
• Present results at internal meetings, and occasional meetings with external stakeholders.
• Ensure that results, protocols, software, and documentation have been archived or otherwise transmitted to the larger organization.

Qualifications

• A Ph.D. in Physics, Electrical Engineering, or related field. Several years of post‑degree experience in relevant areas preferred.
• Experience with the design and fabrication of magnetic nanostructures, including magnetron sputter and e‑beam evaporative deposition or molecular beam epitaxy, electron‑beam and photo‑lithography.
• Experience with characterization tools, including SQUID, Ferromagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, MOKE, X‑ray reflectometry, and secondary‑ion mass spectrometry.
• Demonstrated experience with micromagnetic simulation tools, including MuMAX.
• Demonstrated experience in temperature‑dependent magnetic simulations, in particular atomistic simulations of the temperature‑dependence of magnetization.
• Experience developing novel data acquisition platforms to acquire DC and RF data at scale.
• Familiarity with scripting languages, including Python, and their implementation on GPU clusters for data analysis.
• Ability to develop tools needed to analyze large datasets using Python, MATLAB, or similar programming environments.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Track record of publishing in peer‑reviewed scientific journals.

Equal Opportunity Employer: NIST is an equal‑opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected class.