Bidder Eligibility:
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.
Employees, excluding student interns, must remain in their current position for one year from their hire date before bidding on a new job. However, the hiring manager may obtain approval to consider a candidate before the one-year requirement is met via the review process. This approval must be secured prior to being interviewed for a posted position. The application of this requirement will not supersede collective bargaining agreements. Please refer to the collective bargaining labor agreements for eligibility requirements for represented bidders.
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 vacation, 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:
How do traveling piezoelectric acoustic waves interact with mobile charge carriers when the interaction becomes sufficiently strong thatconventional small-signal and perturbative descriptions break down? What new dynamical regimes emerge when carrier transport, screening, nonlinear acoustic propagation, dissipation, and feedback between electronic and mechanical degrees of freedom must all be treated on equal footing?
We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to develop new theoretical frameworks for understanding acoustoelectric systems in strongly interacting and nonlinear regimes. The central scientific goal of this position is to establish a unified description of the coupled dynamics of acoustic excitations and electronic transport that remains applicable beyond conventional perturbative treatments. Of particular interest are regimes in which traveling piezoelectric acoustic fields substantially modify carrier distributions and transport, while the resulting electronic response in turn modifies the propagation, attenuation, amplification, and nonlinear evolution of the acoustic field. A major objective will be to identify the physical mechanisms that ultimately regulate and saturate these interactions. This fundamental theory effort is part of a larger, dedicated research program at Sandia National Laboratories aimed at understanding and exploiting acoustoelectric physics for next-generation devices. The successful candidate will therefore work closely with experimentalists developing and characterizing acoustoelectric structures, with theory used both to interpret observed phenomena and to identify new device regimes and experimental signatures. The broader ambition is to develop an organizing theoretical framework for acoustoelectric interactions in piezoelectric-semiconductor heterostructures: one that clarifies the relevant dimensionless parameters and physical regimes, explains transitions between weakly coupled and strongly nonlinear behavior, identifies universal versus platform-specific saturation mechanisms, and ultimately provides predictive guidance for device design.
This position is primarily intended for a theorist or computational physicist, although candidates with substantial experimental experience and a strong interest in theory are also encouraged to apply. Candidates interested in working across traditional boundaries between condensed-matter physics, acoustics, semiconductor transport, nonlinear dynamics, and device physics are particularly welcome.
Due to the nature of the work, the selected candidate must be able to work onsite.
Qualifications We Require:
- A PhD, conferred within five years prior to employment, in Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- A strong background in one or more areas relevant to the problem, such as condensed-matter theory, semiconductor transport, acoustics, nonlinear dynamics, computational physics, electromechanics, mesoscopic physics, or theoretical device physics.
- Experience developing analytical or numerical models of coupled physical systems.
Qualifications We Desire:
- Proven record of creative thinking and diligent follow-through, as evidenced by high-impact publications in journals and presentations at leading conferences.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills and enthusiasm for presenting research and engaging with the broader scientific community.
- Interest in collaborating closely with experimental researchers and in using theory to interpret measurements and guide new experiments.
About Our Team:
Our research group is focused on discovering and understanding new physical phenomena in structured optical, acoustic, and electronic systems. We are particularly interested in problems where ideas from condensed-matter physics, wave physics, nonlinear dynamics, electromagnetism, materials science, and quantum science can provide new approaches to controlling coupled physical systems.
The acoustoelectric research associated with this position is embedded within a broader Sandia effort spanning fundamental theory, materials and device design, fabrication, and experimental characterization. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to interact closely with scientists working across these areas and to participate directly in the feedback loop between theoretical prediction and experiment.
The successful candidate will receive substantial scientific mentorship while also being encouraged to develop and lead their own research directions. Over the course of the appointment, they will have opportunities to diversify their research portfolio in ways that support their longer-term career goals.
Posting Duration:
This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) 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. Under federal law, citizens and agents of the People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, and the Russian Federation are generally prohibited from accessing Sandia National Laboratories. Accordingly, such individuals will not be considered for employment unless they are also a citizen of the United States.
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.
Job ID: 699127
Job Family: 92
Regular/Temporary Position: T
Full/Part-Time Status: F
