PREP0004043 Nanocalorimetry Semiconductor Metrology Researcher

PREP Research Associate

Opportunity No.: PREP0004043

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (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 must 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.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Nanocalorimetry Semiconductor Metrology Researcher

Project Description:

The candidate will join a multi-disciplinary team of scientists working to advance the current state-of-the-art in nanocalorimetry-based measurements and expand the technique’s applicability to monitoring of semiconductor manufacturing processes. The goals of the project are to (1) improve upon existing nanocalorimetry measurement capabilities at NIST and (2) determine the feasibility of using nanocalorimetry for in-situ monitoring of atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma-based processes. The major responsibilities of the candidate will include making improvements to the existing nanocalorimetry equipment and measurement capabilities. This includes, but is not limited to, modifying the existing instrumentation to provide better sensitivity and stability, developing corresponding data acquisition and analysis systems, performing measurements to determine thermal properties of nanoscale materials commonly found in semiconductor devices, and supporting the nanocalorimetry based semiconductor process metrology development, including ALD and plasma.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Design and assemble new instrumentation to improve the accuracy, sensitivity, speed, and stability of experiments using NIST nanocalorimetry sensors
• Collaborate with team members on the development, fabrication, and testing of new sensor designs and applications
• Publish results in refereed scientific journals and present results at scientific conferences and meetings

Desired Qualifications: 

• Ph.D. in materials science, physics, chemistry, chemical engineering or related field
• Expertise with building and maintaining custom lab instrumentation required; knowledge of electronics, PCB layout, and analog circuit design would be a plus
• LabVIEW experience required, experience with FPGA systems would be a plus
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team

Other Details:

• Full-time: the participant is expected to work 40 hours a week
• Location: the participant will work at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus.
• Duration: this is expected to be a one year and 10 month position. Extensions are sometimes granted depending on the availability of funds.
• For questions related to the research project or the nature of the work in this position, please contact Dr. Feng Yi (feng.yi@nist.gov). For questions related to the online application or NIST PREP more generally, please contact msu-nistprep@morgan.edu.

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate the administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use the information you submit for the purpose stated.