Nanocalorimetry Sensor Design and Fabrication (CHIPS Funded Project)

Overview

The Materials Measurement Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is
seeking qualified persons to join a multi-disciplinary team of scientists
working to advance the current state-of-the-art in nanocalorimetry. This individual will work
closely with the leaders of this multi-effort project but will personally be responsible for
developing and fabricating new sensor designs optimized for a variety of applications, including
characterization of thin film materials and in-situ monitoring of plasmas.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in materials science, physics, chemistry, chemical engineering or related field.
• Expertise in thermal analysis of materials, including calorimetry-based measurements
• Experience with CAD (Solidworks preferred) and FEA (Abaqus preferred) software
• Experience with materials characterization techniques, including LDV, optical profilometry, and electron microscopy
• Experience with cleanroom operations and standard nanofabrication processes
• Strong written and oral communication skills; ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Research Proposal

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Work with other project team members to design new nanocalorimetry sensors for multiple applications
• Use Finite Element Analysis to model the thermal and mechanical behavior of new sensor designs prior to fabrication
• Fabricate sensors in the NIST Nanofab
• Utilize multiple techniques to determine the mass of samples prior to thermal analysis
• Perform nanocalorimetry experiments and conduct subsequent data analysis to extract material properties as needed
• Publish results in peer reviewed scientific journals and present results at scientific conferences.