PostDoctoral Fellow (PREP0004546)

Johns Hopkins University; Gaithersburg (MD); On-site; USD 85,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Total rewards package for health, life, and retirement benefits

Job summary

Johns Hopkins University in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is seeking a research professional for reliability testing of wide bandgap semiconductor power devices. The role involves building testing circuits, evaluating dielectric breakdown, and advanced power cycling measurements.

Qualified candidates should have a master's or Ph.D. degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering and relevant research experience. The position offers a salary range of $85,000 to $90,000 per year and fosters a collaborative work environment.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• 3 years of relevant experience, including graduate research work.
• Familiarity with data analysis techniques and mathematical computations.

Responsibilities

• Build and characterize dynamic testing circuits for power devices.
• Evaluate dielectric breakdown under realistic loads.
• Perform advanced power cycling measurements.

Skills

PCB layout and circuit simulations

Data analysis techniques

Strong oral and written communication

Collaboration

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Job description

General Description

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 recipient 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

Reliability testing of wide bandgap semiconductor power devices

U.S. Citizen Preferred

U.S. Citizen is preferred.

The work will entail

Reliability is the most critical factor in power electronics. As systems face increasing electrical, thermal, and mechanical stress, individual components degrade, causing untimely failures. Rapid electrification and the aging grid infrastructure can only be addressed if the underlying power electronic components are reliable. Current testing standards for existing silicon-based electronics fail to accurately capture the performance and failure mechanisms of newer wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor materials like SiC and GaN. Advantages of WBGs—such as higher efficiency, small footprint, higher power—can be overshadows by reliability issues that standard silicon-based test methods cannot detect. Without accurate test protocols to evaluate reliability of emerging WBG semiconductors, manufacturers will face higher costs and will adopt them at lower rates. This project will aim to adopt a three-pillar measurement approach that can overcome the limitations of the current test protocols. This work will address electrical, material and mechanical degradation via real‑time characterization methods. Pillar one is focused on building a dynamic testing apparatus for stress‑testing of power devices under high voltage swings to capture the transient behaviors of internal resistance and threshold voltage hysteresis that occur in devices only when actively switching in a circuit. The second pillar will address dielectric breakdown at interfaces using AC gate stress testing under realistic loads. Finally, pillar three will employ an advanced Power Cycling Test (PCT) with microsecond resolution internal temperature measurements in order to correlate electrical load stressors with thermal stress and mechanical packaging failures. Our focus will be on “active load” simulations rather than passive testing, therefore giving us and the industry high‑quality data that is highly desired.

Key responsibilities

• Build and fully characterize one or more dynamic testing circuits for stress‑testing of power devices, such as GaN HEMTs, under voltage or current transients.
• Evaluate dielectric breakdown at interfaces using AC gate stress testing under realistic loads.
• Perform advanced power cycling measurements to evaluate thermal stress and packaging failures.
• Present results at internal and external meetings and conferences.
• Write peer‑reviewed journal articles on novel and important research findings.

Qualifications

• A master's or a Ph.D. degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 3 years of relevant experience, including graduate research work.
• Proficient in PCB layout and circuit simulations and modeling.
• Familiarity with data analysis techniques and mathematical computations using programming tools such as Python or MATLAB.
• A strong desire to collaborate with other researchers and be involved on various related projects.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

Salary Range

The referenced salary range is $85,000 – $90,000 per year.

Total Rewards

Johns Hopkins offers a total rewards package that supports our employees' health, life, career and retirement. More information can be found here: https://hr.jhu.edu/benefits-worklife/ .

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Johns Hopkins University is committed to equal opportunity for its faculty, staff, and students. To that end, the university does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status or other legally protected characteristic. The university is committed to providing qualified individuals access to all academic and employment programs, benefits and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability, performance and merit without regard to personal factors that are irrelevant to the program involved.

Background Checks

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre‑employment background check including education verification.

EEO is the Law

https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf

Vaccine Requirements

Johns Hopkins University strongly encourages, but no longer requires, at least one dose of the COVID‑19 vaccine. The COVID‑19 vaccine does not apply to positions located in the State of Florida. We still require all faculty, staff, and students to receive the seasonal flu vaccine. Exceptions to the COVID and flu vaccine requirements may be provided to individuals for religious beliefs or medical reasons. Requests for an exception must be submitted to the JHU vaccination registry. This change does not apply to the School of Medicine (SOM). SOM hires must be fully vaccinated with an FDA COVID‑19 vaccination and provide proof of vaccination status. For additional information, applicants for SOM positions should visit https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/coronavirus/covid‑19‑vaccine/ and all other JHU applicants should visit https://covidinfo.jhu.edu/health‑safety/covid‑vaccination‑information/.